Guardians of Destiny
by TheShadowChild7
Summary: The unity of Greek and Roman camps has caused the gods to struggle with their forms, resulting in a weakened Olympus. It is up to Nico di Angelo to contact his allies in Magical Britain for help. Hogwarts reads the PJO books, but the plot will move on. Alliances are made and oaths are broken. Everything Harry Potter knew comes tumbling down. And the wars are just beginning...
1. Between Two Worlds

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus belong to J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan respectively. I own nothing. Everything in **bold **is taken directly from the books.

**A/N: AGES OF CERTAIN CHARACTERS MAY BE CHANGED SLIGHTLY. AU. OOC. **

Chapter One: Between Two Worlds

"All students and staff must report to the Great Hall immediately."

Dolores Umbridge's voice interrupted the Hogwarts residents on the early Saturday morning.

Ron groaned. "It's bad enough we have to put up with her in DADA. Now she calls us out of class too?"

Harry sighed. "Come on, Ron. I really don't want another detention with her for being late."

"Fine," huffed Ron. "Wait – Where's Hermione?"

"She's at the library. We'll meet her in the Great Hall," said Harry.

The two Gryffindors, promptly joined by Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom, descended the stairs to the Great Hall and took their places.

"Ahem," coughed Umbridge.

Harry saw a muscle in McGonagall's jaw jump.

"I have gathered you here today –,"

"Who's getting married?" snickered Fred Weasley to his best friend and dorm mate, Lee Jordan.

Lee grinned and rolled his eyes.

"To present to you a gift given to us by an anonymous source," continued Umbridge.

Ginny Weasley blinked. "Then why would we open it? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Do not interrupt me!" shrieked Umbridge. "I will have order!"

A couple of Gryffindors smirked at each other.

"The gift I received was a note and a couple of novels," said Umbridge, oblivious to the still snickering and smirking Gryffindors.

"Oh?" said McGonagall. "Please, do share, Dolores."

"Or just give us the bloody letter if you're going to keep rambling," breathed Snape, knowing she wouldn't hear him.

"I will read the letter to you and we will proceed with reading those novels."

"You called the entire student and staff body up here to _read_?" demanded Ernie Macmillan.

"Detention, Mr –," Umbridge shrieked, but was cut off by McGonagall.

"If we are to read a couple of... novels today, then I suppose you will want classes cancelled. For the benefit of the student body, punishments in the form of detentions will not be given out."

George turned to wink at Harry and Ron, pulling out a wrapped sweet from his robe pocket. Harry rolled his eyes, wondering what that particular treat could do to the poor soul it was given to.

"If you would be as kind as to read the letter, Dolores," said McGonagall stiffly.

_To our ally from the 'other world,'_

_I trust you, Minerva. I know you and my brother can solve this problem at hand. Wars are waging in both our worlds. Our enemies may ally. We need stronger defences. Our best fighters fell in the Titan War. No one, not even I or my brother and your colleague, can bring them back. But we can find new allies. _

_This is why I send you this letter. I hope that you will find more of us. I hope that we will win this war. The future is alright, but the new Greco-Roman union has caused trouble for the higher powers. They still struggle to find their real forms. I know you can find more there. _

_I wish for you, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Andromeda Tonks, Alastor Moody, Theodore Nott, Zacharias Smith, Luna Lovegood, Ernest Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Dean Thomas, Blaise Zabini and Seamus Finnigan to be present as the books are being read. Madam Tonks may bring her family is she wishes. I will have the Activities Director from home send more allies. The centre of these books will, hopefully, be sent as well. _

_Good luck,_

_The Ghost King_

"The Ghost King?" asked several people.

Others were looking at their mentioned friends with curiosity, regarding them with suspicion. McGonagall was paler than usual.

"I will contact Messrs Black and Moody," she said stonily, exiting the Hall.

"You will not attack Mr Black," said Snape to the Great Hall at large. "I will vouch for him. If you still do not believe in his innocence, I will provide him with Veritaserum."

Harry gaped and Snape. "But he hates Sirius," he whispered urgently.

Ron shrugged. "Maybe he wants to poison him."

Hermione, who had met up with them, rolled her eyes.

"The letter mentioned you, Severus," said Madam Pomfrey.

"Brilliant observation, Poppy," said Snape, not looking in her direction.

He tried to steal a glance at the books. He had no doubt they would be about Mr Grace or worse, Mr Jackson. Snape was on fairly good terms with both boys, but the amount of trouble they attracted was enough to give him grey hairs. And of course, there was the Ghost King. Nico. His half-brother. Yes, Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts, was the demigod son of Pluto and the witch Eileen Prince.

Snape sighed. This day was going to be nightmarish, he was sure of it. And to make matters worse, he still had to pretend to hate his fellow half-bloods. Sometimes, being a spy was truly a hellish experience. But it was worth it. For Lily.

Minerva quickly returned with Sirius, Remus, Mad-eye and the Tonkses by her side. The Weasleys arrived soon after, having heard the news from Tonks. Umbridge attempted to curse Sirius, but a grape vine mysteriously wrapped itself around her arms and legs. Minerva looked sternly at Hannah Abbott, who smiled innocently.

"Shall we begin?" asked Moody, "or do we wait for the allies?"

"Begin," said Hannah. "Merlin knows how long it will be until they get here. Besides, they all already know what happened, if the books are about him."

"Of course," said Sirius, grinning. "Who doesn't? The boy's a legend there."

Harry turned to his godfather curiously. "What are you talking about?" he asked confusedly.

Sirius sighed and stared at Harry intently. "Harry..." he said. "I want you to know, no matter what happens today, your parents always loved you... And I do too."

Harry only looked more puzzled, but Sirius slung an arm around his shoulders. "Nothing to worry about," he mumbled.

Sirius didn't want to scare his godson, but things must have been bad for Nico to send a letter.

"How did he send it?" asked Theodore Nott, voicing the question in every demigod's mind.

"He probably asked a child of Hecate for help," said Luna, momentarily forgetting that she wasn't allowed to speak the gods' names outside of camp.

"A child of _what_?" said Terry Boot.

"Nothing," said Luna, blushing.

Hermione's mind was racing. She had heard that name somewhere... And everyone was acting oddly. What was going on?

Harry leaned against Sirius, trying to figure everything out. Sirius had told him not to worry, but everyone always said that. _Don't worry, we'll take care of everything; you're just a child..._ But they never did.

"Are we going to start anytime soon?" sighed Dean Thomas. "If we continue at this rate, Clovis is going to have a more productive day than us."

Seamus snickered. "I'll start reading first, if you want."

McGonagall levitated the book to him. Harry, Ron, Neville and Dean all tried to glance at the title.

"The Lightning Thief," mused Dean. "That sounds promising."

"Merlin and Mordred," groaned Ernie. "That's his first year, isn't it?"

Luna nodded. "That's when Luke –," she stopped abruptly.

"Who's Luke?" asked Hermione, not noticing Luna's distress.

"None of your business, Granger," snapped Zacharias Smith.

Roman he may be, but Luke was still his half-brother and he did not want to talk about that particular incident...

"Read, Finnigan," ordered McGonagall. "And thank you, Mr Black, for silencing Madam Umbridge."

Sirius tipped an imaginary hat. "It was my pleasure, Minnie."

Harry laughed at the affronted look on McGonagall's face.

"**The Lightning Thief," **read Seamus loudly. **"Chapter One: I accidentally Vaporise my Pre-Algebra Teacher." **

"What's pre-algebra?" asked Ron.

"It's like Arithmancy, only easier," said Hermione.

"Well, in that case, congrats, mate!" laughed Ron.

Sirius laughed and shook his head, while Remus rolled his eyes.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Prejudiced git," muttered Hermione.

Dean laughed. "That's not quite what he meant."

Harry's head snapped up. "You're speaking like you know him."

Dean shrugged. "We've met."

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed.

"Normal life," snorted Harry, making Sirius worry.

"You'll tell me later," said Sirius, leaving no room for arguments.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"Sounds fun," muttered Lavender Brown.

Remus and Andromeda flinched, remembering what had happened that one time Sirius had stayed for dinner with Remus and the Tonkses. Thankfully, there had been no casualties, but young Nymphadora had been very distressed that night.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great.****Read on****. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"Don't we all?" muttered Hannah.

Zacharias slung his arm around her. "It's alright, Hannah. We'll get through it," he whispered.

McGonagall and Snape looked longingly at nothing in particular.

"Easy for you," Seamus muttered to Dean. "Bloody children of Tyche..."

Dean smiled guiltily.

Harry memorised the names and titles he had heard that day. Ghost King, Hecate, Tyche and Titan War... Something was up, but Harry couldn't quite tell what it was. He'd figure it out. He always did, somehow.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages - if you feel something stirring inside - stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. **

"Good riddance, then," snorted Blaise and Theodore.

Snape looked sharply at his students. "That's quite enough, Messrs Zabini and Nott."

"Yeah, listen to your uncle," snickered Hannah at the Hufflepuff table.

Zacharias raised an eyebrow. "Uncle?" he asked.

"Well, Sev's Pluto's son and Blaise is Nemesis's, so..."

**And once you know that, it's only a****matter****of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"Who?" demanded Tonks.

Andromeda and Remus flinched again.

"Dora," said Andy. "What type of names do Blacks give their children?"

Tonks blinked. "Stupid ones," she said finally. "Why do you ask?"

Andromeda huffed. "Heavenly bodies, Dora. Think about it. That's all I can tell you for now. And Nymphadora's a lovely name."

"Yeah, compared to Walburga. I mean, who names their child _Walburga_?" snorted Tonks.

Sirius, Arthur, Ron and Harry started laughing.

"Lovely name for a lovely woman," said Sirius, winking.

"That's your mother you're talking about," reminded Molly.

"Yeah, I had to put up with her for sixteen years. I have every right to judge."

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

Angelina and Katie quickly silenced the Weasley twins, while Alicia did the same to Lee.

McGonagall stared at them. "I should give you five points each for that."

"Why won't you?" asked Alicia cheekily.

McGonagall nearly smiled at her young student. How would she ever protect all of them if Olympus's future was as grim as Nico had said? She'd have to leave her little lions to serve the gods...

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"Dun. Dun. DUUUUUN!" cried Fred and George, having broken the silencing charms.

All the Gryffindors, bar Hermione, started laughing.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy****Academy, a****private school****for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

"Is he a troubled kid?" asked Charlie.

"Yes!" exclaimed the younger demigods as one.

**Am I a troubled kid?**

**Yeah. You could say that.**

Zacharias snorted. "Typical Percy," he said.

"Merlin, if you don't tell me what you lot are talking about, I'm going to curse someone," snapped Tonks.

"Patience is a virtue, my dear," said Professor Sprout. "I suppose we'll both find out soon."

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to****Manhattan****- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a****yellow school bus****, heading to****the Metropolitan Museum of Art****to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"Sounds fun," said Colin brightly.

"Not for Percy," said Luna, her tone darker than usual.

"The museum?" asked Hermione.

"No, what happens in it," said Ernie, cringing slightly.

"What's a school bus?" asked Arthur excitedly, looking like a small child on Christmas Day.

"Not now, Arthur," sighed Molly.

"I'll explain later, Mr Weasley," offered Harry.

"I hope you know what you've got yourself into," laughed Sirius.

**I know - it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.**

"Poor Percy," smirked Dean.

Moody grunted, making several people jump.

"Constant vigilance!" he growled. "You should know, Potter, Jackson would take a liking to you."

"Uh, thanks, sir," said Harry, wondering how Moody knew that boy. Nevertheless, Harry was pleased with the comment. Percy seemed like an alright bloke.

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

All the demigods grinned.

"Honestly," said Sirius. "How many years has he been using that name?"

"About sixty, he says," said McGonagall.

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. **

"Wait," said Harry. "It says he's middle-aged, but Professor McGonagall said he's been using a pseudonym for sixty years."

Remus smiled almost sadly at the boy. "Don't you worry, Harry, Tonks doesn't look like she's going to figure it out anytime soon. She'll probably badger us into telling you both."

Tonks huffed. "I'll figure it out. You just watch."

Andromeda and Ted smiled fondly at her.

**He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome****collection of****Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"He sounds great," said Dennis.

"Not nearly as good as Professor Lupin," whispered Lavender to Parvati.

Remus, due to his heightened senses, heard the comment and blushed. How he wanted to continue his job at Hogwarts... Still, he had been careless and irresponsible that night.

Sirius kicked him under the table. "I know what you're thinking," he nearly growled.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

"As if," snorted Blaise.

Dean, Seamus and Theodore smirked.

"Does he get in trouble a lot?" asked Hermione distastefully.

"Obviously, Miss Granger," said Snape icily, not liking her tone at all.

Hermione blushed.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

"See?" grinned Hannah. "Percy's _always _in trouble!"

"Except when Annie's there to save his sorry arse," said Ernie.

"Who's Annie?" asked Bill.

"His girlfriend," said Theodore. "Scary, really... She knows fifty different ways to kill someone without a weapon."

Remus cringed. "You lot scare me," he muttered to Sirius.

The son of Apollo smirked. "We're amazing," he said jokingly.

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a****Revolutionary War****cannon. I wasn't aiming for****the school****bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. **

"Obviously, Mr Jackson," said Snape.

"You _do _know he's not here, right?" said Sirius.

"He's in for a good lecture when he arrives," grumbled McGonagall.

"He's coming here?!" said Colin. "We'll get to meet him?"

"Yes, you will, Colin," said Remus kindly, placing a hand on the young boy's head to stop the irritating bouncing.

Colin blushed at being spoken to by the legendary Professor Lupin. All of the older students said he was the best teacher ever!

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. **

"Genius," laughed Fred. "We can't wait to meet this bloke!" said George.

Sirius was gasping for air. "Moony," he complained. "We should have done that!"

**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.**

"We most definitely do," said Molly, a hint of disapproval in her tone.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Good luck with that," snorted Seamus, interrupting himself.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my****best friend****Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

Sirius and Remus looked apologetically at Snape. He nodded subtly, as if accepting their silent apology.

"Muggles," sneered Malfoy. "What did you expect?"

Daphne Greengrass cuffed him, while Pansy Parkinson laughed shrilly. Pansy's voice made him wince more than Daphne's cuff did.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. **

"That's a way to talk about your friends," grumbled Ron.

Ginny was shaking with silent laughter at her brother's expression.

"I'll be sure to tell Grover when we get back," said Zacharias, making Luna laugh.

Harry stiffened. They were leaving. Sirius was one of them. Would he leave too? Sirius, as if sensing his thoughts, ran a hand through his hair. Harry flinched at the unexpected touch.

Sirius, deciding to ignore that for that moment, kept carding his hand through Harry's hair. "I'm not going anywhere. Even if they leave, I won't go back with them."

Harry relaxed slightly.

"And if I absolutely have to, the Director wouldn't mind if you came along. I've been telling him about you, Harry. He admires you very much..."

Harry blushed slightly. The interaction made Remus smile.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had****some kind****of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"Grover and his enchiladas," said McGonagall, shaking her head slowly.

"Idiot boy," growled Moody, "blowing his cover like that."

"He was very young, Alastor," defended McGonagall.

"He's the best protector anyone can ask for," said Luna. "He found the most powerful demigods – Thalia, Percy and Nico and Bianca, the children of the Elder Three and Luke, the best swordsman in three hundred years and the hero of the First Great Prophecy."

Ernie winced at the mention of his brother. Alastor picked that up immediately.

"Are you ashamed of him, boy? He made his mistakes, like any other man, and he paid the price for them."

"No, sir," said Ernie meekly. "It's just – It's not fair! Why did _he _have to die? Why not someone who really deserved death?"

Snape shook his head. "Death does not come to those who _deserve _it, Macmillan. Death is death. It doesn't care how old you are or how good a person you used to be. The Judges will tell you that."

The Hogwarts students blinked and gaped. Why was the Potions Master acting so oddly? Little did they know, Snape was giving up his job as a spy. Lily was worth everything he had gone through, but he would not be staying in Britain long. He could possibly return for the war, but until then, he'd by away. Hopefully, somewhere in New York, USA.

Ernie nodded slightly. Snape's eyes softened.

"Castellan was a good man, Macmillan. His soul rests now. He is content."

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. **

"What did he do to get on probation?" asked Ginny curiously.

Dean shrugged. "You'll have to ask him."

**The headmaster had threatened me with death **

"WHAT?!" yelled the Great Hall.

"Sounds like Umbridge," muttered Harry, worrying Sirius.

"Let me finish!" cried Seamus.

**by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Oh," was the general response.

"Mildly entertaining?" said Sirius. "That old git..."

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"One Muggle less," muttered Malfoy.

"That's enough, Draco," said Snape sharply.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

"To wear it?" asked Angelina incredulously.

Fred stared dreamily at her. George nudged him. "Mate, you're staring at her again."

Fred blushed. "Was I?"

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"He reminds me of Harry," said Luna in her usual manner.

Said boy smiled, making Sirius chuckle. "You and Luna seem like good friends," he said brightly, winking at Harry.

"Merlin, Sirius, we only met on the train this year!"

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. **

"He should have," said Theodore.

Draco looked at his friend oddly. What was going on with him? How did he know those Muggles?

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"Poor Perce," said Hannah, a mocking edge to her tone.

Seamus snorted. "You really do take after your father."

"Watch it, Finnigan," warned Hannah. "I could have him expel you."

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey **

"Echoey isn't a word," said Hermione and Remus indignantly, making Sirius laugh.

**galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew****my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"More than that, Jackson," sighed Snape.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, **

"Good," said Blaise solemnly.

"Remember every word of it," said Luna.

"Or they'll kill you," finished Zacharias casually.

A couple of people winced at that. Sirius didn't reply – he was too busy watching Umbridge grow angrier by the minute. He had yet to lift the silencing charm, and no one else would do so either.

**because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

"Dodds?" asked Theodore. "That name sounds familiar."

Snape made a choking sound. "How could he... Jackson was only a boy..."

"He was the supposed lightning thief," said Ernie, catching onto his 'uncle.'

"It's impossible to steal lightning," said Hermione. "Lightning is a massive electrostatic discharge between the electrically charged regions within –,"

Ron clapped a hand over her mouth. "Not now," he groaned.

"Thank you," mouthed Seamus.

Ron nodded stiffly, still angry at Seamus about what had happened in September.

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. **

"What's a –,"

"Not now, Arthur!" cried Molly.

She loved Arthur with all her heart and she found his obsession with Muggles endearing, but sometimes it was too much.

**She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

"Poor soul," said Ted. "I wonder what they did to her."

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"Umbridge!" coughed Harry, grinning innocently when McGonagall glared at him.

McGonagall's lip twitched. Harry was so much like James; it was hard to stay mad at him for too long.

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"GROVER!" yelled the younger demigods.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

"We should introduce him to Trelawney," said Charlie drily.

"Don't do that to poor Brunner," said Bill.

"He's seen worse," said Dean casually.

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"It always does, eh Percy?" said Tonks.

She had a fairly good idea of what was going on. She'd have to share it with Charlie.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

"Percy's being polite," said Zacharias. "That's new."

Hannah and Blaise chuckled.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"Well, that's not disgusting in the least," muttered Tonks.

"Less disgusting than when Ron threw up slugs," said Harry, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Ron glared at him. "You had to remind me, didn't you?"

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."**

"He was a psycho?" finished Charlie helpfully.

"That's one way to put it, Mr Weasley," said McGonagall.

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and - "**

"Zeus would throw a fit if he heard," muttered Severus to Alastor.

Thunder boomed overhead.

"He heard," smirked Mad-eye.

"Thank you, Detective Moody," said McGonagall.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself. **

"That's better," said McGonagall.

**"And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters - "**

"How the bloody hell do you confuse a baby with a rock?" whispered Blaise, leaning over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Zeus looks like a rock," said Luna helpfully.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"You don't say," snapped Ginny.

Molly was quick to scold her only daughter.

**" - and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Way to summarise centuries of fighting into three sentences, Percy," said Hannah.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"What's so funny?" demanded Andromeda. "He got it right!"

Ron shrugged. "Muggles are weird."

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"I could arrange that, mortal," hissed Snape, his eyes flashing.

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Horse ears," corrected Luna.

Harry sat up straighter. "Horse?" he said. "So he's a centaur?"

Tonks, seemingly realising the gravity of the situation, clapped a hand over his mouth.

"I'll tell you everything I've found out tonight, Harry," she whispered. "Do not reveal any information to _anyone._"

Harry frowned but nodded. Why was Tonks asking this of him?

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

Fred and George made sounds of faux disappointment, much to the amusement of Sirius, Ted and Lee. Andromeda rolled her eyes slightly at her cousin and husband.

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. **

Cho, Lavender, Parvati and Padma and Marietta let out squeals of disgust. Ginny sighed and flopped down on the floor between Dean and Seamus, trying to get away from her housemates' girlish squeals.

**The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. **

"Sounds cheerful," said Bill.

"To you, maybe," said Charlie. "You work with goblins. Sick, twisted little buggers, they are..."

Remus looked at them curiously. "Shouldn't the two of you be at work?"

"We should," said the two men simply. "But we aren't."

**On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"Maybe you and Brunner are somewhat alike," mused Ron with a teasing smile.

Hermione didn't bother to include herself in the conversation. She _had _to find out what was happening. Even Tonks had figured it out!

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"Sounds familiar," said a girl from the Ravenclaw table with a look at the Gryffindor boys.

Dean, Seamus and Ron looked back at her innocently.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming.**

"Dun –,"

"Dun –,"

"DUUUNNN!" exclaimed the twins together.

"Messrs Weasley!" reprimanded McGonagall. "That's quite enough!"

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

Hannah snorted. "Percy's being polite," she muttered.

"It's known to happen," said Luna delicately.

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go - intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"He has," said Seamus and Ernie together, grinning at each other.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

"Idiot," snorted Theodore in a manner very unlike himself.

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

"Classic genius Percy," said Zacharias.

"That's what Annabeth's for," said Dean.

"Who's Annabeth?" whispered Harry, looking at Tonks.

She shrugged. "Someone smart, I guess..."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the help, Dora."

Tonks didn't respond. Dora... That's what he used to call her back at Godric's Hollow when she'd change her features for his amusement. When Uncle James would let her fly on his broom and made her promise she wouldn't tell her mum, when Aunt Lily would tell her stories of her Hogwarts days...

Tonks sighed. Those were memories she was better off forgetting.

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"Dramatic much?" said Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so****hard.**

"It's for the best, boy, don't complain," growled Moody.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, **

"What?!" yelped Molly.

Sirius shrugged. "Professors let their students duel, don't they?"

Molly shook her head. "Those are _swords_, Sirius."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And we use _wands_, Molly. If we're done clarifying everyone's choice of weapon, I suggest we move on."

Remus cuffed him. "Be nice, you insufferable mutt."

**to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. **

Ron and Seamus nearly choked. Neville's eyes widened comically. Hermione's eyes, on the other hand, were gleaming with joy.

"That..." muttered Harry.

"Is torture?" finished Sirius.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder **

"He's got _what_?" asked Arthur.

"Arthur!" scolded Molly, making everyone laugh. "Now's not the time."

**and I had never made above a C - in my life. **

"That's the equivalent of an Acceptable," Dean informed the Hall.

A couple of Ravenclaws grimaced.

**No - he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"Poor dear," muttered Molly.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

Snape idly wondered who that girl was.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

"Way to avoid the conversation," huffed Ginny.

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

"Sounds lovely," said Angelina sarcastically.

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

"It's him!" exclaimed Sirius gleefully.

Moody raised an eyebrow. "I do not see why you're so cheery about this, Black."

Sirius only shrugged.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. **

Charlie's eyes flashed. He loved all animals and could not stand to see people harm them.

**Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

Ginny's temper flared. "That little –,"

George clapped a hand over her mouth, looking over at their mother.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school - the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

Harry sighed sympathetically.

"You've been there, Potter?" said Malfoy nastily.

"Shut it, ferret!" shot back Alicia, glaring at Draco.

She had grown much closer to Harry after the previous year – he had found out her family was struggling and forced her to take a fairly large amount of money. Her parents had, at first, refused the money, but the idea of having a roof over their heads was too tempting. The ministry paid for Hogwarts for the poorer families, but not much else. Alicia's father had quickly got a job at Diagon Alley as an assistant at Flourish and Blotts.

Alicia and Harry had written to each other often the previous summer, Alicia helping him to take his mind off Cedric.

Harry smiled gratefully at Alicia. Hesitantly, he stood up from his spot and joined her. Sirius smiled knowingly and winked at Remus, who rolled his eyes.

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean - I'm not a genius."**

"We know," said Zacharias.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Ted, Sirius, Fred, George, Lee, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Tonks started laughing loudly.

"P-Poor Percy," choked out Tonks.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

"Priceless," said Ron and Sirius, making the latter wink at the younger man.

"Great minds think alike," he said, while Remus said, "Fools seldom differ."

"Oi!" cried Sirius.

"Professor," said Ron in a nearly whining tone.

Remus gave his friend and former student a wicked grin. "Sadly, I'm no longer your professor, Ron. You may call me Remus if you like."

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. **

A couple of people sighed – they remembered what it was like to leave their families to go to Hogwarts.

**I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

Molly cooed. "Such a sweet boy," she muttered affectionately. "He reminds me of Harry."

"Yes, isn't he –," said Fred.

"Such a perfect little gentleman?" finished George.

Harry huffed indignantly.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. **

"He ate _celery_ while he read his _novel_?" laughed Sirius.

"Some of us wanted to live longer than the age of thirty-five, Sirius. Not to mention, some of us _enjoy _reading," came Remus's distinctly unimpressed answer.

Harry snickered quietly, which did not go unnoticed by Sirius. He raised a hand to lightly cuff his godson, but stopped abruptly as Harry closed his eyes tightly and stood completely still, all traces of mirth gone.

"Harry?" said Sirius quietly. "Are you alright?"

Harry opened his eyes and slowly turned to his godfather, smiling sadly. "I-I'm alright, Sirius, y-you just took me by surprise, that's all."

Sirius didn't look convinced, but let the subject drop.

**A red umbrella stuck up from the back of hischair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

Seamus's eyes brightened. Perhaps he could make something like that...

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends**

Ginny groaned. "Why won't that bint just leave him alone?"

"Ginevra!" scolded Molly. "I do not want to hear you use such foul language!"

**- I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists - and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

Ron's temper flared. "Can you believe her?" he cried loudly.

Harry slung an arm around him. "Maybe we can ask Moody to turn _her _into a ferret too."

Moody glared. "I do not harm minors, Potter. That was Bartemius Crouch."

Harry shook his head, finally remembering that it had indeed been Crouch Jr who had Transfigured Malfoy. "Sorry, sir," he said, looking up at Moody.

The retired Auror nodded in response.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Cheetos?" asked a couple of purebloods, Arthur among them.

"Later!" cried the Muggleborns, tired with the questions.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." **

Tonks snorted. "It never works," she said.

Sirius shrugged. "You have your mum to blame."

"Pardon?" said Andromeda. "I'm not the one who set the dining room on fire when I was fourteen."

"We should introduce him to Leo," whispered Blaise to Theodore.

"Can you imagine him, Leo and Seamus running around camp, setting the cabins on fire like some sort of modern Thomas Faynor?"

Theodore laughed. "I'd rather not have another London 1666 episode, thanks."

**But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Harry sat up straighter. "Sirius?" he asked almost hesitantly. "Mrs Tonks said something about heavenly bodies," he said quietly. "And now there's a wave... Is it...?"

Sirius silenced Harry with a shake of his head. "I will explain it to you tonight... Well," he continued with a smirk. "That's after Dora shares her genius predictions with you."

Sirius winked at Tonks.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Good," said Ginny and Charlie approvingly.

Hermione looked at them disappointedly, shaking her head.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

Harry didn't think 'materialised' was used incidentally. Could this Mrs Dodds really have appeared out of thin air? Was she even human?

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see - "**

**" - the water - "**

**" - like it grabbed her - "**

"So I was right?" said Harry to Tonks.

When Mrs Tonks had told her daughter that the names of stars and planets had something to do with this, Harry had immediately started going through the possibilities, finally reaching the one logical conclusion: the ancient myths he had been taught in the early stages of primary school were very real. Unbelievable as it was, it could be the reason why Sirius was acting oddly, why the boy from the letter had called himself the Ghost King, why he had heard mutterings of the names Tyche and Titans.

Hermione was nearly pulling her hair out. "What?" she demanded. "What are you right about? What did you find out?"

Harry looked up at Sirius uncertainly. The older man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but Harry isn't allowed to speak a word of it."

Harry shot his friend an apologetic look.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

Fred, George and Ron grinned at each other.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey - "**

"Would she just _drop _the honey part already?" said Andromeda.

Ted groaned, nodding in agreement. "Now it's just creepy."

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Never guess your punishment," said Sirius, Fred and George.

Molly looked sternly at Sirius. "My sons don't need encouragement, Sirius."

Sirius winked at the twins after Molly had her back turned.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Wherever did you get that from?" said Tonks sarcastically.

Andromeda cuffed her lightly.

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped.**

**"It was me. I pushed her."**

"Good old Grover," muttered Seamus. "He was always so loyal..."

"Was?" asked Ron. "What happened to him?"

Dean shrugged. "He just disappeared. He's alive, we know that much, but we don't know where he is."

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

Hannah and Luna glared at Snape. He glared back, his black eyes flashing with fury. How dare they accuse him of sending that beast after a boy?

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But - "**

"He's just like Neville. He never lets the fear get to him," said Harry smugly, genuinely proud of his friend.

Neville blushed and smiled at Harry. "Thanks," he mumbled.

Ron clapped Harry on the back. "Always know how to make people feel good, eh?" he said quietly, so only his friend could hear.

**"You - will - stay - here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

"Drop. The. Honey," said Tonks venomously.

"There, there," said Charlie mockingly, patting her shoulder.

She swatted his hand away, her bad mood vanishing. "Watch it, Weasley!"

Charlie grinned goofily and turned back to Seamus, listening to the story.

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

"I'll wipe that smirk off her face once and for all," grumbled Ginny.

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. **

"I'm sure it's terrifying," said Malfoy drily.

"It is," said Blaise and Theodore in response.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

Ron's eyes widened. "How –?"

Harry looked worried. Ginny grabbed his hand for comfort, rising from the floor and sitting on the bench next to Harry.

**How'd she get there so fast?**

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

"It's not the ADHD, Percy," said McGonagall to herself. Angelina, being the closest to the Head table, gave her professor a curious look.

**I wasn't so sure.**

"Boy's got good instincts," growled Moody.

Once again, the people around him jumped.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" yelled Tonks, grinning at her mentor, who glared at her.

Whether it was because she had stolen his line or because she was possibly mocking him, no one knew.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

"He hasn't got a weapon to defend himself," realised Terry Boot, sitting up. "He's alone with a madwoman."

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

A Slytherin girl whose name Harry didn't know growled in frustration.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"Wishful thinking," said Sirius tensely.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

"What did you expect?" said Andromeda. "They were never too merciful with Siri."

Harry sat up, alarmed. "What?!"

He looked at his godfather, his emerald eyes piercing. "You're one of them," he said quietly.

It wasn't a question.

"Harry, please –," said Sirius. "I promised I'd tell you tonight. There's only four hours to midnight."

"Can we have dinner?" said Ron. "I'm hungry."

"Big surprise there," laughed Harry and Ginny.

"Half an hour to dinner, Weasley," said McGonagall. "You can wait."

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Percy," groaned Ernie. "Don't be an idiot."

Zacharias raised an eyebrow. "He can't hear you."

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

Colin's eyes widened comically.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

"She probably did," said Dean helpfully.

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

Ginny blinked. "That answer made no sense. Wouldn't it be safer to say sorry?"

Dean shrugged. "Percy's logic," he muttered. "It never makes sense."

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"What did he do?" asked Dennis, absorbed in the story.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

Colin latched himself onto Andromeda. "She's going to hurt him..." he said, burying his head in her side.

Andromeda, more than slightly confused, pulled Colin closer and started carding her hand through his hair.

"Percy is going to be alright, dear. Don't worry."

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

Harry laughed mirthlessly.

"How many has it been till now?" asked Ron, much to the guests' confusion.

Harry shrugged. "Quirrell, Lockhart, Crouch, Umbridge, Snape, to some extent..."

Sirius's eyes widened. "You'll tell me everything later."

It was an order, realised Harry.

**I said, "I'll - I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

"Merlin, he's angry," breathed Luna.

No one had ever seen her so sensible.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

Ted sucked in a sharp breath. "The lightning thief," he said. "Mrs Dodds thinks Percy stole lightning."

"It's physically impossible to steal lightning," said Hermione, not for the first time.

"Be silent, Granger!" said Snape sharply, showing his father's temper.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

"Poor dear," sniffed Molly. "How will he ever get out of this?"

Sirius, despite his banters with Molly, smiled sympathetically. "Percy's a strong boy, Molly. He'll be alright."

"Have you ever met him?" asked Harry quietly.

Sirius shook his head. "He... appeared about seven years ago. I was still in prison at the time."

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. **

"We like this one," said Fred and George.

"Dung would too," said Ginny to Harry and Sirius.

Sirius growled, remembering the incident with Mundungus Fletcher that summer.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. **

"Internet?" asked the Slytherin girl Harry didn't recognise.

"It's complicated," said Harry. "But I'll try to explain later, alright?"

"Thanks," said the girl. "I'm Daphne, by the way. "Daphne Greengrass."

"Pleasure," said Harry.

McGonagall was glowing with pride. Her little Gryffindors were letting go of their prejudices!

**Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"It's a good book," defended Hermione.

"You think _Hogwarts, a History_ is a good book," reminded Ron.

"You like it too?" said Daphne. "I think that adds up to two people who have ever read it – you and me."

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

Dennis gasped. Colin jerked violently in Andromeda's arms. She pressed his head against her neck, whispering reassurances.

"It's awfully nice of her to take care of a stranger's child," observed Ginny.

Ron nodded. He had always thought Blacks were a heartless bunch.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. **

Ted's face was one of pure disgust.

"And we thought –,"

"Crabbe was ugly," joked the Weasley twins.

"Now's not the time, boys," said Remus.

**She wasn't human. **

"Great observation," snapped Zacharias.

**She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"She's a monster," said Tonks quietly. "Like the Minotaur and the –,"

Sirius clapped a hand over her mouth. "Do not speak of them," he said firmly.

**Then things got even stranger.**

As Seamus read, the atmosphere kept getting tenser.

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"A pen?" said Ron. "What's he going to do with a bloody pen?"

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

"Helpful," sneered Malfoy. He, too, felt a twinge of fear.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

"By the twelve," whispered Hannah shakily.

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched theballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword - Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

"Of course," said Harry, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. "What better way to disguise a weapon in a Muggle school than turn it into a pen?"

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

"Kill her," groaned Ernie.

Luna placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ernest," she said dreamily.

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

Ted rolled his eyes. "Really, now? 'Die, honey?'"

Remus shrugged.

**And she flew straight at me.**

"Attack," said Harry immediately. "Swing, don't thrust."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "How would you know?"

Harry didn't answer, reluctant to tell his godfather about the fight with the Basilisk.

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"Swinging a sword can't come naturally to anyone, much less a twelve-year-old boy," said Hermione in a tone which implied that she knew perfectly well what she was talking about.

"It does to people like Percy," said Luna.

"No it doesn't –," argued Hermione.

"It did to me when I fought the Basilisk," said Harry. "I was twelve, too."

"Just admit that you don't know everything, Granger," said Blaise.

"You did _what_?" said Sirius. "Harry, you _will _tell me later," he said stiffly.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!**

"What?" said a couple of people, confused.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded****into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"That's just scary," mumbled Susan Bones.

**I was alone.**

"Where's Brunner?" asked Justin Finch-Fletchley.

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

Harry and Ron turned questioningly to Neville.

"They exist," he confirmed.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

Snape looked up to the sky and shook his head.

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" said Susan. "No one mentioned a Mrs Kerr..."

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

"It's the Mist," said Sirius in a voice barely above a whisper.

Needless to say, nobody heard him.

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Grover's a dreadful liar," said Zacharias.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

Sirius nodded vigorously. "It is," he said.

Remus cuffed him.

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

"Why does it keep mentioning the weather?" saidDennis.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

"Really, Brunner?" said Ted. "Help the poor boy out!"

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"Poor Percy's going to think he's gone mad," said Bill.

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at YancyAcademy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"That's it," said Seamus.

Dumbledore clapped his hands twice and food appeared on the tables. As the students and staff busied themselves with it, Tonks, Harry and Sirius exited the Great Hall and entered an empty classroom.

"Well?" said Harry. "They're real, aren't they?"

"The gods?" said Sirius. "Quite."

"How –,"

Harry didn't understand.

"Harry, the gods have always been around. They would, just like in the supposed myths, descend to the mortal world and sire children with mortals. Those children were called demigods. To balance their exceptional godly powers, they were always chased by beasts mentioned in the book. To this day, demigods still exist. There are several camps for such children all over the world. The most popular ones are in Athens, Rome, New York, Edinburgh, Paris and Stockholm. As the gods move with the heart of the west, there are no camps in the Middle or Far East."

Harry gaped at Sirius, dazed.

"And Percy's a son of Neptune?"

"Poseidon," corrected Sirius. "There's a Greek and Roman form for most gods."

"That's why the supposed Ghost King said that the Greco-Roman union is destroying them," said Tonks. "They can't co-exist."

Sirius laughed. "They don't have a choice. Poseidon and Neptune are the same body, but different minds and spirits."

"And you're one of them?" said Harry warily.

Sirius closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "My father isn't Orion Black. It's the lord Apollo Phoebus, god of light, truth, prophecy, healing, plague, music and poetry. Son of the King of the Gods – Zeus, lord of the sky – and Leto."

"And no one knew?" said Tonks.

"My Uncle Alphard found out first. He used his magic to cover the scent that attracted monsters. Most monsters can't enter the Wizard World, anyway. But as I started growing older and more powerful, my fighting skills did not improve. I had never been to camp – my mother wouldn't allow it. I, myself, found out when I was nine. Later, when I turned fifteen and your parents," he said, nodding at Tonks, "got married and had you, they invited me for dinner. Sadly, their home was in the Muggle world. I was attacked. I told Andromeda and Ted to run to safety with you. Everyone came out unharmed. Of course, I had some explaining to do..."

Harry tried to absorb all the new information.

"Go to bed," said Sirius softly. "We can talk more in the morning. I expect the rest of the demigods will arrive tomorrow as well."

Harry nodded numbly and turned to leave, walking back to Gryffindor Tower, lost in his thoughts.

Sirius and Tonks stayed in comfortable silence, until Tonks fell asleep on her cousin's shoulder. But the older man didn't move. He sat there, looking at the nearly full moon through the window.

**A/N: To clear things up, here are the Hogwarts demigods:**

**Severus Snape - Pluto**

**Sirius Black - Apollo**

**Minerva McGonagall - Athena**

**Alastor Moody - Mercury**

**Theodore Nott - Hecate**

**Zacharias Smith - Hermes**

**Luna Lovegood - Athena**

**Ernie Macmillan - Hermes**

**Hannah Abbott - Dionysus **

**Dean Thomas - Tyche**

**Blaise Zabini - Nemesis**

**Seamus Finnigan - Hephaestus**


	2. Entwined Hearts

Sunshine72 – Thanks for the review! Here's the next chapter

Guest – Perhaps I will

**MAJOR OOC THALIA **

_I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. They belong to J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan respectively. _

_Question: Do you want me to include any OCs? (No children of the Big Three, children of Titans, blessed/cursed by the gods or other such Mary Sue-ish nonsense)._

_Question 2: Harry/Alicia, Harry/Ginny or Harry/Katie?_

Chapter Two: Entwined Hearts

Harry woke up feeling dazed and confused. He felt guilty about not telling Ron and Hermione the news, but he would never betray Sirius's trust, not even if his own life was at risk.

How many more demigods could be at Hogwarts, other than the ones claiming to have met Percy Jackson? It was unbelievable – the teachers at primary school had always pushed Harry toward Anglicanism. The thought that the myths he had been taught in years one and two were real was simply outrageous.

Harry woke Ron with the threat that he wouldn't be getting breakfast if he wasn't at the Great Hall in ten minutes and left on his own, meeting up with his fellow Chasers on the way.

He smiled and greeted them. Katie grinned at him.

"Excited for the next chapter?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "More excited to see them in person. I'd love to see what they have to say about this mess."

Alicia snorted. "D'you think Jackson can run through Umbridge like he did to Dodds?"

"As long as she's silent, I don't care about her," said Harry. "I'm just glad there are people who can silence her."

"She'll be crying to Fudge for help after this," said Angelina warningly.

Harry shrugged, uncaring. "What's Fudge going to do, curse everyone who insults Umbridge? There isn't enough magic in the world."

They entered the Great Hall, only to see Professor McGonagall herding a group of teenagers through the crowds of Hogwarts.

"Attention, students," she said loudly, effectively silencing everyone.

"These are the guests who will be joining us in this... unexpected activity. They will join their respective friends and relatives at their tables. If they do not have anyone close to them, they may choose a table."

Harry eyed them all. Some of them were tall and muscular, with confident, bordering arrogant, smiles. Others were smaller and looked bored. They all had one thing in common: they stood defensively, as if they expected to be attacked. Harry knew the feeling well.

The guests cleared out. The ones who joined the Gryffindor table were a tall, muscular boy around sixteen with dark hair and brown eyes, a boy that greatly resembled an elf and a boy with blond hair, tanned skin, blue eyes and a confident smile. He reminded Harry of Sirius in the way he talked and moved, even if their features were opposites.

"Will Solace," the boy introduced himself.

The Gryffindors all introduced themselves, from the first years to the graduated guests.

"So you're the infamous Sirius Black?" said Will, amusement colouring his voice.

"I see my name is famous even in the faraway lands of New York," laughed Sirius. "I'm flattered."

"You'd better be," grumbled Elf Boy. "I've spent the better part of last year listening to news about your escape. Leo Valdez, by the way, also known Captain, or Repair Boy by the lovely Piper McLean."

"Repair Boy," laughed Seamus. "I've never heard that one before."

The older boy narrowed his eyes. Harry soon learnt that his name was Jake Mason.

"Shall we start with Chapter Two?" asked Andromeda, breaking up the conversation. "Who wants to read it?"

"I will," offered a girl with stormy grey eyes and curly blonde hair.

"Of course, dear. Your name...?"

"Annabeth," replied the girl. "Annabeth Chase."

Andromeda handed her the book with a warm smile. Before Annabeth could begin, two demigods – a boy with blond hair and electric blue eyes and a girl with dark clothes, spiky black hair and the same bright eyes joined the Gryffindors.

They introduced themselves as Thalia and Jason. Thalia's eyes flashed in anger when Hermione asked for their surnames.

"We're siblings," was all she had said. "Our surname does not concern you."

Thankfully, they were saved by Annabeth starting the chapter.

"**Chapter Two," **she read with a small amount of difficulty. **"Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death," **

"Socks of Death?" snorted a demigod at the Ravenclaw table. "Really?"

Percy blushed from across the boy. "Shut it, Nico."

Thalia grinned and winked at Nico.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.**

"And you call me mad," complained Grover Underwood at the Hufflepuff table.

"You _are _mad," said Thalia. "You're just a different type of mad."

"Thanks," said Grover, huffing slightly.

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr - a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip - had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"Well, she _is _an improvement from that nightmare that goes by the name of Mrs Dodds," said Ted.

"Technically," she goes by the name of Alecto," corrected Nico, who had heard the first chapter from McGonagall, along with the other demigods.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

Travis and Connor Stoll burst out laughing from beside the Weasley twins. "Priceless, Percy!" guffawed Connor, leaning against his brother for support.

**It got so I almost believed them - Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

"Grover?" asked Thalia, smirking slightly.

"Grover," confirmed Percy.

Said boy blushed.

"Sorry, Grover," said Thalia. "You're great and everything, but your lying skills are terrible." 

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

Chris Rodriguez snorted. He was at the Hufflepuff table with Clarisse la Rue, who looked fairly displeased with the cheerful bunch.

"Grover, Grover, Grover," he repeated, shaking his head.

Harry was forcibly reminded of Lockhart.

**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.**

"You don't say," laughed Tonks. "You're a bright one, Percy!"

The young boy blushed. "Shut up," he said embarrassedly.

Annabeth smacked him with the book. "Be polite, Percy, they're only strangers. It's good enough of them to let us in here; don't mess this up."

Tonks laughed. "It's alright, really. I'm Tonks, by the way. It's just Tonks."

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

A few first years shivered, remembering the previous chapter.

Percy shrugged. "Not that scary anymore..."

"Your first was a Fury?" asked Thalia. "Mine was a Hydra."

Percy winced. "When did you figure out that two heads grow back after you slice one of them?"

Thalia grimaced. "Almost a second too late."

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. **

"Father," groaned Jason.

Thalia only rolled her eyes, not remotely surprised by her father's attitude.

**One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson****Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy****Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"His anger is causing people's deaths," said Jason icily. "He is rather immature for someone who has been alive for so many millennia."

Nico and Severus shook their heads. Hades had no more room for the dead. The Underworld kept expanding, but it was becoming impossible to rule the kingdom of the dead when billions of souls had already entered, more going in every day.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. **

"From Poor to Troll," translated Harry.

"You've got a 'Troll' mark?" said Jake, a hint of a smile on his face. "I wish we had that!"

Hermione gasped. "How could you –?"

"I have dyslexia and ADHD and I was recovering from the shock of my teacher trying to kill me and everyone 'pretending' she didn't exist," was Percy's only answer.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

Clarisse nodded almost approvingly. At the raised eyebrows, Katie Gardner elaborated.

"Clarisse and I met in a juvenile detention centre. We travelled to camp together."

"It was my fourth," admitted Clarisse.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Andromeda cracked a smile. "It means an old drunk. You called your teacher an old drunk."

Percy grinned as the Weasley twins and the Stoll brothers clapped him on the back.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to YancyAcademy.**

"Sixth in a row," laughed Pollux. "Good going, Perce! Even I've only been kicked out of four schools in my life."

"I've never been to school, if you exclude that horrible excuse for a school Thalia and I went to the winter before we found Nico," said Annabeth.

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

Thalia, feeling an odd twinge of sympathy, invited her cousin to sit by her side. She slung an arm around him.

"Don't feel bad, Percy, it could happen to any demigod."

Percy laughed lightly. "That was seven years ago, Thalia. I'm over it."

She shocked him slightly, just enough to make him smell burnt without really hurting him.

**I was homesick.**

Clarisse rolled her eyes.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Sirius stiffened. "Did your stepfather gamble often, Percy?" he asked lightly.

Percy shifted uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah – I mean, yes, sir."

Sirius's gaze softened. "You needn't call me that. Do you still live with your stepfather?"

"No," answered Percy with more certainty than before. "He's... disappeared."

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even****if he was a little strange. **

"I'm flattered," said Grover drily.

Percy blushed, cursing the books in his head. "Sorry, Grover..."

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

Piper and Molly cooed. "Isn't that sweet?" muttered Piper to Jason.

Jason only grinned goofily at her, staring into her colour-changing eyes.

**I'd miss Latin class, too - Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

"Yeah..." muttered Chris. "He's the only one who ever has any faith in us."

He bowed his head, remembering how he had betrayed the camp. He had abandoned his brothers. He had shamed his mentor. He was a filthy, useless traitor. Chris still had nightmares about that day. Nightmares that haunted him, that never let him forget.

"One would think that he'd have given up already, yeah?" said Katie, smiling slightly.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. **

"You want to impress him, don't you?" said Thalia knowingly.

Percy glared, thinking she was mocking him.

Thalia leaned a little closer. "All of us did, Percy."

That seemed to ease his thoughts slightly.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"Good," said Theodore. "Always listen to Ch – Mr Brunner."

"You've got good instincts, boy," said Moody.

Percy inclined his head. "Thanks," he said awkwardly.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. **

Hermione and Annabeth shot him venomous glares. Jason snickered at him.

"Nice going, Perce," he joked.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. **

Dean winced. "Is that what it's like?"

He was one of the luckier demigods – he had not been diagnosed with dyslexia; only ADHD.

**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. **

Snape eyed him. "I do hope you know the difference now, Mr Jackson."

"Yes, sir," said Percy, feeling slightly uncomfortable around the man.

He had an aura similar to Nico's, just less friendly.

"I will test you at the end of the chapter. If you fail to answer my questions, I will be sure to remedy your ignorance."

Nico shot his half-brother an irritated look which plainly said "That's enough."

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"They're easy," said Jason.

"For you, maybe," grumbled Connor.

"Why would you even need to conjugate Latin verbs?" asked Clarisse.

"Because I was thrown into a camp with a bunch of Roman psychos," answered Percy teasingly, earning a shock from Jason.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

Travis, Connor, Fred and George grinned at each other.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**

A few demigods looked at the ground, while others stared into the distance. Clarisse found herself comforting a shaking Chris.

"I disappointed him," he said hollowly.

Clarisse soothed him until he stopped shaking. She shook her head. How she ended up taking care of broken campers, she had no idea.

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. **

Molly looked proudly at Percy. "He has dyslexia and still tries. What's your excuse, boys?" she aimed the question at her sons.

Ron shrugged. "I'm lazy," he said through a mouthful of sweets.

Harry burst out laughing at the sight of it.

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave YancyAcademy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."**

"That must've been hell for you, wondering what was going on," said Katie.

"Things happened pretty fast," said Percy somewhat cryptically.

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, **

Thalia snorted in disbelief.

"Right," said Annabeth drily.

Hannah and Zacharias laughed at Percy's expression, while Luna shook her head at her half-sister.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"You've got a point," admitted Charlie.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too - "**

"Kindly One?" said Bill. "Why would you call them that? I mean, they're hardly kind."

Seamus shrugged. "It makes them sound less intimidating."

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"Maybe in a couple of centuries," said Clarisse.

Pollux laughed, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Castor's death had left him empty, but he knew it would be alright. He had friends to help him through the pain.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline - "**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"Not for long then, I take it," said Sirius sympathetically. "Say, Percy, twelve is rather old for this. Especially for a Big Three child... How –?"

"He was well protected," said Thalia, a hint of envy in her voice. "His father..."

"His father had nothing to do with it, Thalia," said Annabeth. "He never sent anything. Not even a letter or a sign..."

Molly's temper flared. "How dare he? He left you and he didn't bother to contact you again?"

"Don't talk about things you do not understand, Molly," said Sirius coolly. "Percy's father was forbidden to go near his child."

Annabeth started reading before an argument could break out.

**"Sir, he saw her... ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

Blaise groaned. "You'll make him think he's gone mad."

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

"Grover!" yelled Thalia, making the entire Gryffindor table jump.

"Y-Yes?" said Grover hesitantly.

Thalia stalked up to his table and pulled him up by the collar. "You idiot!" she yelled. "How many times have I told you that _you didn't fail_?" she demanded, emphasising the last words. "I made my choice and I do not regret it. I would do it again if I had the chance!"

Ernie stared open-mouthed at her. "Even for... _him_?"

Thalia abruptly let go of Grover. "How much do you know about him?" she asked. "Did you know what made him do this? Do you know why he did it? Why he wanted to leave? Why he fought us?"

Ernie opened his mouth to protest, but Thalia cut him off.

"Did you know?" she demanded. "That he was forced to do it? That he was threatened and blackmailed?"

Luna and Hannah rose and made their way to the distressed daughter of Zeus. Luna led her to an empty space between the Head and Hufflepuff tables and they sat down. Blaise, Annabeth and Theodore joined them.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. **

"Yes," fumed Moody. "You should have."

**Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall - "**

The demigods all flinched.

"Must've been terrible to hear," muttered Hannah.

Blaise nodded. He was a son of Nemesis – he had never been of any importance to monsters.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Percy!" scolded Sirius. "Never give away your position!"

Moody nodded furiously. "You could have been in a life-threatening situation. That move would have got you killed!"

"Wouldn't have been the first time," said Percy, winking at Annabeth.

Leo smiled faintly. Ever since he had reached Camp Half-Blood, Percy had been his hero, someone to look up to. Now, Percy was one of his best friends.

His hero approved of him and appreciated him.

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Why would he pull out his bow in a school?" demanded Ernie.

Zacharias rolled his eyes. "Because he thought that there was a monster, obviously."

Seamus and Dean snickered at Ernie's expression.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

"You're scaring him," muttered Piper disapprovingly.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"That's when it was stolen," mused Nico.

The people around him jumped, as he hadn't spoken in very long.

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

"Poor goat," smirked Thalia.

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

"It was probably just five minutes or so," said Remus with a knowing smile. "Sirius was exactly the same."

"Except he doesn't have ADHD," said Andromeda.

"You don't?" asked Jake, surprised.

Sirius shook his head. "Wizards and witches can't get mor—Muggle illnesses."

He frowned. What was wrong with him? He had never slipped up before.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"Probably was," said Susan.

"Just not for the exams," finished Ginny.

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

"I'm betting on no," said Jason, eliciting a laugh from his sister.

Percy stuck out his tongue at them. Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Very mature, Percy..."

"Well, Brunner _did_ say he needed to mature more," said Charlie.

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, **

"That's not going to work," said Dean. "He's linked to you."

"I know that now," said Percy irritably.

**and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

"Don't," warned McGonagall. "They'll only find you faster if you do."

Percy threw his head back. "This happened seven years ago!"

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, **

"Three hours!" yelled Fred and George.

Ginny pretended to faint. Bill put his head in his hands.

"My siblings are idiots," he mumbled.

Charlie patted him gingerly on the shoulder, winking at Ginny.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman****names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

"Oh, good," Colin sighed in relief.

He was sitting by Andromeda again. He didn't know why, but she really made him feel safe.

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. **

"Always," muttered Katie. "How can he _always _find a way to make us feel guilty or upset about things we've done?"

"Especially when no one else can," agreed Chris.

**Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Ginny growled lowly. Thalia's electric blue eyes flashed with anger as she let out a string of colourful words she never would have said in front of Chiron or Artemis.

Jason whistled lowly at her language. Snape muttered something about ineloquence and well-educated sailors.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

Harry flinched violently.

**My eyes stung.**

He flinched again – that was what he always felt like when McGonagall or Lupin gave him that disappointed look. As if reading his thoughts, Remus gently touched his shoulder, but still eliciting a flinch from him, and leaned closer.

"Are you alright, Harry?" he asked, his voice gentle and loving.

Harry nodded and rested his head against Remus. The older man frowned at his sudden change of behaviour, but didn't comment.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"Harsh," muttered Travis.

"Chiron really cares about you," said Thalia quietly, ensuring only Percy could hear her. "You're one of his favourite students."

Percy smiled gratefully at her. Thalia really was pleasant when she wasn't trying to kill him. It was just as Annabeth had said – they would either be best friends or worst enemies.

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be - "**

"He's not used to speaking to supposed mortals," grinned Connor.

Katie rolled her eyes at him.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

Percy blushed at the sympathetic stares. Damn them books to Tartarus!

**"Percy - "**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. **

Sirius made a face. "They're the worst. Trust me; I lived with Narcissa for sixteen years."

Draco stood up. "How dare you speak that way about my mother?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're Malfoy's son?" he asked. "You certainly look like him."

"You poor, poor boy," said Tonks with mock empathy.

Charlie laughed at that, while Andromeda cuffed her daughter.

Hannah and Ernie smiled. Auror Tonks certainly made things more interesting.

**Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Not quite, Mr Jackson," said Snape.

"Of course, Neptune's not as grand as Jupiter," smirked Jason.

"Or as ill-tempered and self-righteous," said Thalia distastefully.

Thunder rumbled outside. Thalia didn't acknowledge the warning.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

"And someplace else," added Theodore.

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

"At least they're trying to be polite," said Andromeda.

"And failing miserably at it," said Ted.

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"I rest my case," said Ted, smirking slightly at his wife.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, **

"Isn't that a coincidence?" said Connor with an air of great surprise.

He ducked as Katie tried to smack him.

**so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. **

Annabeth sighed. "Really, Grover?" she asked exasperatedly.

"So Luke and I weren't the only ones you freaked out," grinned Thalia.

Ernie frowned at how she spoke about Luke with such ease after she nearly shocked him to Tartarus and back for mentioning him.

**It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

"Subtlety, Grover," said Nico. "Have you ever considered it?"

Grover blushed.

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

Travis, Connor, Fred, George, Sirius and Thalia burst out laughing.

"T-That must have scared h-him h-half to d-d-death," choked out Travis.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha - what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

Sirius shook his head slowly. "Percy," he said in an almost whining tone.

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Not much," said Blaise. "Just the entire conversation."

"And he still doesn't know what's going on," sighed Seamus.

"Oi!" cried Percy. "It's not fair – you all travelled in groups!"

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "I was alone for a year before meeting Luke. Annie travelled alone for at least six months. Seamus had been told what was happening by his mother, but he was alone for the majority of the trip, before Torrington found him –,"

"Who's Torrington?" asked Luna.

"No one!" snapped Theodore. "Torrington is no one!"

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."**

"Underwood, you are a dreadful liar," said Snape.

Grover blushed.

**"Grover - "**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

"Now that's just taking it too far," said Ginny.

Tonks tried not to laugh at the pathetic lie.

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"I got it!" huffed Grover.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, **

"Who writes these cards?" demanded Harry.

"My father," said Hannah.

Harry turned to Sirius questioningly.

"Dionysus," he mouthed.

**but I finally made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800) 009-0009**

**"What's Half - "**

Hermione made a sound of disapproval. "Half-Blood Hill?" she said. "That is so prejudiced!"

"Granger, do not mindlessly ramble about that which you do not comprehend," snapped the Potions Master.

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"What's so bad about being rich?" asked Theodore defensively.

Ron shrugged. "It makes others feel bad, alright? We can't control it."

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

"Mansion?" said Annabeth amusedly.

"Try brutal, ancient training camp," scoffed Dean.

"With swords and lava and councillors of questionably sanity," added Zacharias.

"And morality," said Hannah.

"Sounds fun!" said Harry cheerfully.

"Can we go there?" asked Dennis, bouncing excitedly.

Snape shook his head. Gryffindors were mad.

"No," said Thalia bluntly. "Not unless your ancestors have gone there."

**He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Percy!" scolded Tonks, McGonagall, Molly and Andromeda.

The Stoll brothers, Nico and Leo started laughing at Percy's affronted look.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I - I kind of have to protect you."**

A couple of Hogwarts students looked at each other curiously.

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. **

"Such a sweet boy," mumbled Andromeda to herself. "My nephew would do well to learn a thing from him."

**And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Nothing much," said Sirius casually. "Just an army of monsters that are after your blood."

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. **

Colin jumped. "What's going on?"

**Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver****cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

"Who did this?" said Ted. "It definitely wasn't an accident."

"You'll see," said Percy, wincing slightly. "Ah, and you two," he nodded at Thalia and Annabeth, "might not want to hear this."

Thalia and Annabeth frowned at each other. Jason held his sister tightly.

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

"Grover," said McGonagall exasperatedly. "You should have taken him and run."

**We were on a stretch of country road - no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with****afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

"A fruit stand?" said Ron. "In the middle of nowhere?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe it's just someone selling fruits to travellers."

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

Nico winced slightly and looked up at Snape. "Is that –?"

Snape nodded almost unnoticeably. "I believe so. Whose is it, Mr Jackson?"

Percy looked down, remembering those lost in the war. He looked around at his friends, his fellow survivors. They had become war veterans before they had become adults. It just wasn't fair.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

"What?" said Susan, confused. "Why would they be knitting giant socks?" she asked.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

"Well, they're definitely not human," muttered Zacharias.

"Are they monsters?" asked Seamus.

Percy looked up. "Sort of," he said.

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Annabeth found out what it was first. She gasped slightly and stared at Percy, eyes filled with terror.

"It's not yours," she said. "I s it?"

Percy shook his head slightly.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man - "**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

"You should not have stayed," said McGonagall, closing her eyes for a moment.

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Idiot boy," growled Snape slightly.

Neville flinched at his tone, even though it wasn't aimed at him.

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors - gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

Nico closed his eyes and prayed to every Greek and Roman god he had heard of.

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"You're mad," said Ted.

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

"Percy, please listen to your protector," pleaded Hannah.

"Grover knows what he's doing," agreed Luna.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. **

"It wasn't your lifeline," realised Thalia. "It was Luke's."

"The Fates showed you the First Great Prophecy," said Chris slowly.

Thalia calmly stood from her spot and left the Great Hall without an explanation. Nico made to follow her, but Annabeth stopped him.

"She needs to be alone," she said softly.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for - Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"Of all the questions, Perseus," said McGonagall irritably.

"Wait – Perseus?" said Tonks. "Your name is _Perseus_?"

Percy groaned, but Tonks only shrugged.

"At least now I'm not the only one with a stupid name."

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

"Funny how it happened only after they had snipped the chord," said Ted.

Harry shuddered slightly. Nico glanced at the double doors, wondering if Thalia was alright. He really had a soft spot for her. He knew she had a hard life and the parallels between their lives made him more empathetic. After all, they had both lost their siblings and been trapped in time. Their allies feared them rather than respected them. They wandered alone because they didn't have a home. They were mistakes. Outcasts.

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"Why?" asked Dennis. "What's happening?"

"It's the aftereffect," said Annabeth simply, not wanting to continue that conversation.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Everything," chorused the **Hogwarts** demigods.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"My boy, they are so much worse," said Andromeda. "They're so much older and more dangerous and deadly than the Kindly Ones."

"I know," said Percy quietly.

"Just call them by their names," said Hermione. "Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself."

"Not in this case," said Sirius gently. "We avoid the name if possible."

"But Dumbledore said –,"

"I don't give a rat's arse about what Dumbledore said," said Zacharias hotly. "We do not speak the name."

**His expression was hard to read, but I got ****th****e feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

Remus closed his eyes. "Merlin help the boy," he muttered to himself.

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing****himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost - older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

Annabeth sighed. "It's not just a big deal, Percy. It's the line between life and death. Those women were the ones to decide your fate, hence the name The Fates."

"Look, I know," said Percy. "But Grover was freaking me out."

Grover shot his best friend a guilty look.

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

Nico's and Annabeth's eyes lingered to the empty space where Thalia had sat. Annabeth closed her eyes to hold back the tears. No words could explain what she had felt the day Thalia had left them.

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"Some do," said Dean quietly, glancing at Sirius.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"Poor Percy," sighed Jason. "I had it good, being brought to camp early."

"How old?" asked Luna.

Blaise leaned forward, curious.

"Two," said Jason. "That's when Thalia ran away."

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

"No, but it's quite close for mortals," said McGonagall.

Hermione frowned. McGonagall had said mortals... As if she wasn't one... Why did the library have to be closed during the readings?!

**No answer.**

**"Grover - that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

"You're not as stupid as you look," said Moody bluntly.

Percy scowled. "Thanks."

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"I quite like daisies, Forge, what do you think?" said Fred, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't know, Gred. Dandelions, perhaps?" replied George, winking at Percy.

Annabeth sighed at the pair. "That's the end of the second chapter," she said. "I suggest we take a break. Jason, Nico, are you coming?"

Both boys nodded and followed Annabeth out of the Great Hall. Eventually, they found Thalia beside the Black Lake, lying on the ground, staring at the sky.

Jason knelt down next to her. "You alright, Thalia?" he asked gently.

Thalia sat up and stared at the people she trusted most. "I'm fine," she said. "You should go back."

Annabeth shook her head. "Thalia... I know it hurts. I know better than anyone."

"I didn't even get to hear his last words. I have to hide it in the Hunt. Artemis would understand, but Phoebe would have me kicked out if she heard I missed a male friend."

Nico closed his eyes. "He's still in Elysium. He hasn't moved on yet. If you want – I can take you to see him. But just once – you can't spend your life speaking to a dead man."

Thalia nodded. "I'd like that. Just to see him one last time..."

Jason offered her his hand. "Let's go back, shall we?"

Thalia took his hand and stood up. "You'd better not mention this to anyone," she threatened.

"Mention what?" said Jason innocently.

Thalia nodded stiffly and they made their way back to the Great Hall.

_Possible OCs:_

_1. Jon Evans_

_Age: 13_

_Height: 1,60 m_

_Hair: Curly blond_

_Eyes: Green_

_Skin: Light_

_Immortal parent: Zephyros_

_Abilities: Aerokinesis_

_Fatal flaw: Arrogance_

_2. Jamie Lloyd_

_Age: 14_

_Height: 1,72 m_

_Hair: Black_

_Eyes: Blue_

_Skin: Pale_

_Immortal parent: __Letus_

_Abilities: Necromancy, Life Aura _

_Fatal flaw: Ambition_

_3. Evelyn Redwood_

_Age: 13_

_Height: 1,55 m_

_Hair: Curly black_

_Eyes: Blue_

_Skin: Pale_

_Immortal parent: Hecate_

_Abilities: Magic_

_Fatal flaw: Anger_

_4. Helena Jameson_

_Age: 15_

_Height: 1,65 m_

_Hair: Red_

_Eyes: Brown_

_Skin: Light_

_Immortal parent: Dionysus_

_Abilities: Chlorokinesis_

_Fatal flaw: Vanity_


	3. Hearts of Courage

Guest – Confession time: I don't like Tyson much, so... Sorry!

BookFreak – Well, if someone like Kelly and Tammi attacked her and made it look like she was the assaulter, Katie probably would be sent to detention centre, even if it was just because of the Mist.

Crimson Gamma – She just seemed less sympathetic in canon, so I wanted to warn readers first, in case OOC characters do not appeal to them.

Guest – Alright. I'll consider that, thanks for the review.

Kerowyn6 – No Thalico! I quite like the idea of the Big Three cousins being closer, but there isn't going to be any romance between them. Thanks for leaving your opinion on the OCs!

Sunshine72 – I'm adding them in this chapter (excluding Jamie Lloyd. He seems rather unpopular with readers). Thanks for the review!

**A/N: I know Jon's fatal flaw was originally arrogance, but I've decided to switch it to **_**naivety**_**. Sorry!**

_Question: Would you like: _

_Morgan le Fay and Merlin time-travelling to Hogwarts;_

_Younger Luke and Thalia time-travelling to Hogwarts;_

_Gods appearing;_

_Deceased demigods (and/or deceased wizards) appearing temporarily;_

_Sally, Paul, Rachel and Chiron going to Hogwarts;_

_None of the above? _

Chapter Three: Hearts of Courage

The next day, the readers met at the Great Hall, but before they could begin the reading, a flash of white light appeared, blinding the Hogwarts residents. Groans of pain echoes in the silence that reigned in the castle.

"No one move," said McGonagall quietly, drawing out her wand.

Moody, Sirius, Snape and the Tonks family followed closely behind, steadily approaching the figures left by the light. Three figures lay on the floor, unmoving.

"Are they dead?" whispered Dennis.

Colin hushed him, for the first time realising the danger and severity of the situation.

Slowly, one of the figures rose. It was a small, slight boy about thirteen or fourteen years old; filthy, bloodied hair that must once have been blond covering his bright green eyes.

He staggered slightly and looked up at the crowd surrounding him, dazed. The boy backed away gracelessly, trying to defend the still unmoving figures behind him, unsheathing a knife covered with rust and blood among other things.

"Who're you?" he demanded.

His voice was hoarse from lack of use. Moody hobbled forward and stuck his wand under the boys chin.

"What's your name, boy?"

The teen's filthy hand flew to his head, as if a sudden ache had consumed him. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking up at Moody unflinchingly.

"Jon Evans," he said with forced confidence. "And you?"

Moody dug his wand deeper into the boy's throat. "Where did you come from? Why are you here?"

Remus pulled Moody back. "Let the child sit," he said gently. "He is in no condition to withstand an interrogation. Sirius and I will take the other two."

Moody forcefully picked the young teen up and forced him on a House bench. "Well?" he growled impatiently.

Jon looked up dizzily. "Why'd you bring me here? Who are you?" he asked in a slurred voice.

McGonagall glared at Moody and approached the boy. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall and this is Alastor Moody. We are not going to harm you. We do, however, require you to answer our questions. Do you remember where you were before appearing here?"

Jon looked as if he was trying to remember. "Yorkshire," he said finally. "My friends and I were in Yorkshire, before some – some man flashed this great light and we got here."

He nearly fell backwards, his eyes closing, but Molly caught him and allowed him to lean against her.

"You are currently in Hogwarts Castle," said McGonagall. "Can you tell us your friends' names?"

Jon looked apprehensive. Finally, he nodded slightly. "Helena," he said slowly. "And Evelyn."

He closed his eyes as he felt another stab of pain in his head. The two girls had yet to wake. He didn't blame them, either – due to his injuries, they had been on guard duty for forty-eight hours in a row.

"Enough questions," snapped Tonks. "He needs to rest. Take them all to the Hospital Wing. We will figure out why they're here later."

Andromeda and Poppy left for the Hospital Wing, Sirius and Remus helping them take the three teens.

"Looks like we didn't have to wait long," muttered Ginny.

Harry's head snapped up. "What?"

She pointed to a note on the floor where the three newcomers had appeared.

_Dear Allies,_

_These three strangers are my (and the Greco-Roman camp's) allies. Unfortunately, I only met them a couple of years ago, in my twenties. With the proper training, they can become very powerful. Do not be alarmed if I send any others. Good luck. The fate of the world rests upon your shoulders._

_Do not take this lightly,_

_The Ghost King_

The demigods looked at Nico, who shrugged. He had no idea what his future self was planning. Had he forgotten that meddling with time was dangerous?

"Well," said Ted, "I suppose they're... your type?" he aimed the last part at the demigods, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Jason shrugged. "Seems like it..."

"Shall we begin?" said McGonagall once Sirius and Remus had returned.

"I will read this chapter," offered Hannah.

McGonagall handed her the book. "Very well, Miss Abbott."

The demigods gathered on the floor between the Gryffindor and Head Tables. Annabeth leaned her head against Percy's shoulder and Jason slung his arm around Piper.

"**Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants," **read Hannah.

Thalia turned and smirked at her friend and former protector. "Did he, now?"

Grover blushed.

"How would you know?" asked Susan Bones, a funny expression on her face.

"Percy meant trousers," said Grover quickly, blushing deeper at what Susan was implying.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"Percy!" yelled Annabeth, Piper and Luna.

"What part of _protector _was unclear to you?" demanded Theodore.

Percy only shrugged.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"**

Thalia cuffed him. "Grover," she said in a softer tone than before.

It reminded Annabeth of the way Thalia used to speak to her when they were on the run.

"Continue," said Grover heavily.

**Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to****wait for****him, then made a beeline for the ****restroom. **

Travis and Connor snickered, making Katie throw her head back. They were so irritating!

Clarisse smirked at one of her only friends' expression. Only a couple of people had accepted her as a daughter of Ares – Silena, Chris, Katie, Beckendorf and Annabeth, even though the last rarely showed it.

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

McGonagall closed her eyes and counted to ten. "Foolish boy," she said finally, shaking her head.

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

"We don't live there anymore," said Percy, glaring at Travis and Connor.

Fred and George made sounds of disappointment at the Gryffindor table, eliciting laughter from their siblings, Tonks and Harry.

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"She's lovely," whispered Nico to himself.

Thalia's eyes hardened. Why did Percy get to have a good family when she didn't? She quickly pushed the feelings away. Percy deserved it.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. **

A couple of people raised their eyebrows at this.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, **

Harry, Susan, Neville and Luna flinched slightly. A couple of people looked at them pityingly.

**and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. **

Harry flinched again, more violently this time. Ted placed a large hand on his shoulder, making him jump.

Moody eyed the boy curiously. Something was wrong with him...

**She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

Molly blinked the tears out of her eyes. Ginny and McGonagall pursed their lips and looked away. Harry and Neville smiled sadly, hoping everything would work out for Mrs Jackson.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

"And even he left her," whispered Molly tearfully.

"He was forced to," defended Percy. "He never wanted to leave her!"

Thalia and Jason raised their eyebrows. A god that didn't want to leave his mortal lover?

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. **

The demigods looked at each other in envy. Zacharias sighed, remembering the unclaimed children in the Hermes Cabin. Years had come and gone, but the gods had not acknowledged them even after the children had fallen in battles they had sneaked into in a blind attempt to impress their parents.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

"None?" asked Professor Sprout, surprised.

"None," confirmed Percy. "But I speak to him now."

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. **

Ted smiled faintly. He had spent countless hours hiding in abandoned classrooms or behind the Whomping Willow with Andromeda during their Hogwarts days.

**Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

Arthur frowned disapprovingly.

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"She was telling the truth, sort of..." said Dean.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. **

Thalia's eyes widened comically. "She must be a saint..."

Percy smiled. "You can come over sometime. I'm sure she'd love you – she loves all half-bloods."

Clarisse snorted, while Travis and Connor frowned, remembering when their own mother had told them to "leave and never come back."

"Why?" asked Travis with genuine curiosity. "We're more trouble than we're worth. All we do is get people killed."

He was quickly confronted by McGonagall and Snape.

"Mr Stoll," began Snape smoothly. "I suggest you do not repeat such nonsense again. I will not accept it."

"We will talk later," said McGonagall simply, eyeing the demigods. "With all of you."

**But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

"No kidding," snorted Thalia.

Annabeth laughed. "You were ridiculous when you were twelve," she said with a wicked grin.

Percy huffed indignantly.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, **

"That's being generous," said Percy coolly, very unlike himself.

Thalia, Nico, Jason, Annabeth and Piper looked at each other worriedly. Chris and the Stolls frowned to themselves. Ted narrowed his eyes.

**then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. **

The Weasley children and the Stolls started laughing.

"Lovely," grinned Tonks.

**I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"Even lovelier," mumbled Piper.

"Sounds charming, doesn't he?" shot back Dean.

Daphne turned slightly green.

Hermione shook her head. The Jackson family was so _weird_.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

Angelina sat up straighter. "What did he do to you?"

Percy shrugged. "Nothing much..."

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. **

"He gambles," said Harry icily, making Ron, Ginny, the twins, Hermione and the three Chasers shiver slightly.

Percy nodded stiffly.

**The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

Snape held back a growl. Pathetic drunkard...

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"Yes," said McGonagall. "Seeing as he's your stepson, you could at least greet him properly."

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"He asked you for money," said Annabeth through clenched teeth. "Your stepfather asked you for money to fund his gambling."

Luna looked angrier than anyone had seen her before.

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**

The foursome that had been tending to the newcomers appeared in the doorway, leading three healthy-looking teenagers into the Hall. Andromeda led them to the Gryffindor table and introduced them to the people there.

They introduced themselves as Jon Evans, whom the Great Hall had already met, Evelyn Redwood, whose blue eyes darted around the Hall in suspicion and Helena Jameson, who was constantly braiding and unbraiding her dark red hair. Jon was definitely the smallest, his two companions towering over him.

Jon and Evelyn seemed a slightly uncomfortable at having everyone's eyes upon them, but Helena seemed rather pleased.

"Please continue, Miss Abbott," said Andromeda kindly.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. **

Everyone laughed at that.

Ron smirked at Harry. "Vernon?" he asked.

"Precisely," laughed Harry.

**He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

Piper gagged. "Sounds charming," she muttered, turning a pale shade of green.

Clarisse sneered. But somehow, it seemed rather half-hearted. Piper reminded her of Silena – strong, brave. She didn't care about looks, but love was everything to her.

_I'll show them 'Love is worthless'. I'll pulverise them!_

_He told me he wouldn't hurt... Charlie. He lied to me. _

_Riding a Pegasus... Her eyes lighting up at seeing Beckendorf... Attacking the Drakon... Lying dead in the bloodied Manhattan street..._

The memories hit Clarisse like a blow in the head. She missed Silena more than anyone. Why did she have to go? Clarisse understood why Thalia was so upset over Luke. Yes, both Luke and Silena had been traitors, but they had been heroes. They had fought and died for their loved ones.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. **

Thalia looked away. Travis and Connor seemed particularly interested in the hems of their shirts. Harry laid his head on the rough table. Sirius closed his eyes, blocking out the memories. Severus brought down his Occlumency shields abruptly, refusing to relive his nightmarish childhood.

"Is he gone now?" asked Jon softly.

"Yes," replied Percy. "He's been gone for years now."

Jon nodded slightly, smiling at Percy. He had never met his father, but Evelyn had said that he was an Olympian god. Jon didn't know if that was possible, but so many things had happened in the past months, it mattered very little to him.

**Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"He would do _what_?" said Sirius in a deceptively calm voice.

Percy swallowed as the older man's eyes flashed dangerously. "Empty threats," he said in a would-be casual voice.

"Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if I gave you a checkup at the end of the chapter?" said Andromeda pleasantly.

Percy shrugged slightly. Thalia moved from her spot next to Jason and sat by her cousin. It gave him a little amount of comfort, knowing his family was by his side.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

Piper grimaced.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Annabeth shook her head fondly. "You never change, Percy," she said, smiling.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"Hark who's talking, you bloody walrus," seethed Harry.

Sirius and Remus turned to look at him, the latter's eyebrow raised.

Harry blushed and shrank back in his seat, much to Fred and George's amusement.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"Oh, look," sneered Blaise. "Someone sensible in that bloody house."

Ernie looked disgusted. "Halfway, at least," he muttered.

**"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

Seamus put his head in his hands. "There's no hope for this one."

"Foul monster," mumbled Astoria under her breath.

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Piper, Annabeth, Luna, Hannah, Ginny and Tonks looked positively horrified. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Ernie, Terry, Seamus and even Malfoy didn't look much better.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

Hannah grinned slyly. "Father can arrange that," she said cheerily.

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

"Has he even had a _basic education_?" asked Ernie.

"Take a guess," said Zacharias sarcastically.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. **

"How come?" asked Colin.

"You'll see," said Percy, rapidly growing tired of that phrase.

**During school months, it was Gabe's "study." **

"Study?" snorted Ginny. "Can he read?"

"Doubt it, Weasley," said Daphne.

**He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet,**

Clarisse, Thalia, Blaise and Theodore sneered.

"I'll shove _him _in a closet," grumbled Bill.

Charlie subtly moved further away from his brother.

**leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

Thalia grimaced as a wave of nausea hit her.

_Whiskey bottles smashed on the floor... A strong scent of beer in the house... Mrs Grace lying unconscious... Strange men coming and going... _

_Thalia, even at the young age of eight, knew only too well that her mother was selling love to them. And it sickened her. It sickened her more than the broken bottles on the kitchen floor or the way the filthy, hungry Jason was left wailing in his cot. But this was life, she thought as she fed her brother. And she couldn't change it..._

Thalia shook the thoughts out of her head. It did her no good, dwelling on them now.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

Ron shrugged. "At least you're back, right?"

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "You only returned for your mother, I suppose?"

Percy didn't answer.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

"He must have really smelled," said Luna mildly.

"No kidding," choked Grover, remembering the smell.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. **

"Maybe it wasn't as bad," said Percy.

**I remembered Grover's look of panic - how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone - something - was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

Thalia eyed the book. "Monster," she said sharply.

"Not this time," replied Percy. "Thankfully."

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

At this, laughter erupted from the demigods.

"You thought your mother was a monster?" said Ernie.

"Priceless, mate," grinned Theodore, clapping Percy on the back.

Luna and Annabeth exchanged amused smiles, while Nico and Blaise grinned slyly at each other.

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

Clarisse made a mocking sound, only to be ignored by Percy.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. **

Molly smiled at that. Percy was such a sweet boy... Nico smiled as well. He felt the same way about Mrs Jackson.

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. **

A couple of demigods smiled, remembering their trainer and mentor. Chiron had always put his faith in them. He had taken care of demigods without family, turned them into heroes instead of berating them for their restlessness and spontaneity.

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

At this, Zacharias choked on his newly-acquired Butterbeer, courtesy of Sirius.

Seamus raised an eyebrow. "Not even _Gabe_?"

Dean stared at the book oddly. "I'd have murdered him in his sleep," he cried, only half-jokingly.

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

Sirius smiled faintly. Sally Jackson was so much like Mrs Potter...

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. **

Travis and Connor grinned maniacally.

"No one," said Katie, "and I mean _nobody_, ever give them sweets."

She emphasised every word, looking at the residents of the Hogwarts Great Hall warningly.

**She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

Luna and Ginny smiled.

"That's nice of her," said Luna dreamily.

Annabeth shook her head. She loved her half-sister, but she would never understand her.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. **

Fred and George huffed. "Mum would have skinned us alive if we got expelled."

"You're lucky to last a year, Percy," said Connor.

"Yeah, we never lasted more than four months," complained Travis.

"So we've given up school entirely," finished Connor, grinning.

**But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

Piper and Molly smiled at that.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Boys," scoffed Thalia, rolling her eyes.

"Shut it, Huntress," growled Clarisse.

Thalia blinked. She had never expected to turn into... well, a Huntress. She wasn't a man-hating, narrow-minded snob, was she?

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally - how about some bean dip, huh?"**

"Oi," cried Harry. "How about you shut the bloody hell up?"

Ginny, Fred and George grinned at him.

"I'm proud," sniffed George.

Remus turned to look at Harry warningly. The young boy blushed. "Sorry, Professor..."

Remus's expression softened at the quiet, hesitant voice. Annabeth, not sharing Remus's opinion on Harry's choice of wording, threw her head back and laughed.

"You could be Thalia and Jason's brother, for all I know," she said. "Gods know you have the same temper."

**I gritted my teeth.**

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"Paul's no millionaire," said Nico.

"He treats her well. He doesn't care that I'm a demigod," said Percy. "I think he's quite alright."

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy****Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy****Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. **

Jake snorted. "Humble, eh Percy?"

Percy blushed, while Leo laughed, still fiddling with a spanner.

**I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "She was _bad_, Mr Jackson. I daresay she should have been expelled in your place, had it not been for that 'old sot' comment..."

**Until that trip to the museum...**

"Alecto," breathed Snape, sighing at his father's unreasonable actions. The boy had been just shy of twelve...

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

"Don't lie to your mother," scolded Annabeth and Piper.

Percy rolled his eyes.

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"It would make sense to her," said Nico quietly.

"I know," replied Percy. "But at the time, I had no idea..."

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

"That's nice, Percy," grumbled Harry sarcastically, remembering how Ron, Fred and George had pressured him into talking about the Dursleys.

Unfortunately, Hermione had believed Dumbledore's word over Ron's, as they had only been in second year, and her relationship with Ron had been rocky.

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

**"Three nights - same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought you had... financial difficulties?"

"We did," confirmed Percy, not sharing any further information.

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"Ah," said Ted curtly, "I see."

Andromeda's eyes hardened. "This Gabe... Where is he now?" she asked.

"Fiel – Hell," said Percy cheerfully.

Jon's eyes widened slightly. "He's dead?"

"No," said Evelyn irritably. "He's gone to hell for a visit."

"Control your temper, Evelyn," said Helena absentmindedly, doing her hair as she spoke.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

Harry opened his mouth and promptly shut it again, not wanting to risk angering Lupin.

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. **

Ginny gagged at the thought.

**Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"For good, I hope," muttered Remus.

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

"He's not going to like that," said Madam Pomfrey, wincing slightly.

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"Quite," replied Sirius, trying to keep a straight face.

Remus groaned while Andromeda rolled her eyes.

Sirius grinned as Harry and the Weasleys laughed. "At least _some people _appreciate good puns," he said smugly.

"The thing is, Sirius," said Remus with a theatrical sigh, "it stopped being 'good' after thirteen years of hearing it."

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He shouldn't have a say in it," countered Charlie.

Tonks and Bill nodded in agreement.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. **

"Worried," snorted Ernie.

**That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"That sounds... too much," said Blaise.

Katie nodded. "It _is _Gabe, though..."

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your****clothes budget, right?"**

"Pardon?" said Ted, standing up.

Harry and Jon unwittingly exchanged worried glances.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

"What is it with you people and calling people that?!" cried Evelyn, having been told in unnecessary detail what had happened in the first chapters.

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

"I'm sure," said Thalia with a smug smirk. "Percy destroys everything."

"You set all of New England on fire," retorted Percy. "You've got no room to talk."

Thalia blushed and looked away from the curious stares. "It's none of your business," she grumbled.

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"HE FUNDED YOUR WRETCHED GAME! HOW BLOODY UNGRATEFUL CAN THE LITTLE ARSE GET?" yelled Sirius, finally snapping.

Annabeth was shaking with fury. How dare that stupid mortal... It was a good thing Gabe was already dead...

A couple of people started backing away from Sirius. He didn't notice until his eyes fell upon his own godson, who was looking at him with wide eyes. Jon had fallen back into Helena, who took her eyes off her antique pocket mirror (the last gift from her recently deceased foster father) long enough to wrap her arms around him and whisper reassurances to him.

Sirius forced himself to calm down, but his attempts were in vain.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

Clarisse nodded approvingly.

"I am not as low as to resort to violence," said Theodore, "but that isn't a bad idea..."

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? **

_For me_, thought Percy. _She suffered for me and I had no idea. _

**I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

"There's the sarcasm we've all been waiting for," said Nico, a rare grin on his face.

Piper smiled faintly. Hazel would have loved to see her brother smile like this... Why weren't she and Frank here, anyway?

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"Good luck with that," said Remus.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

"She never believed me, either," said Nico. "Nothing gets past her."

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes - the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride - as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

"She probably did," said Grover. "I hadn't even warned her, though..."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I was busy," said Grover. "Chiron wanted me to make sure monsters couldn't find Percy in his apartment."

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. **

"You could try helping, you –," Sirius quickly stopped himself before he lost his temper.

Andromeda smiled in appreciation at her cousin, while a low growling escaped Bill's and Ted's throats.

**He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking - and more important, his '78 Camaro - for the whole weekend.**

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Like he'd be the one driving," said Thalia and Harry in perfect unison.

Hannah smiled as she read the next line.

**Like I'd be the one driving. **

"Apparently," said Chris, "the attitude is genetic."

**I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

Travis and Connor shook their heads in mock disappointment.

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make****on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

This paragraph drove the entire Great Hall into fits of laughter.

"P-Percy," gasped out Fred. "Y-You're just brilliant!"

Percy inclined his head, grinning. It was probably his fondest memory of Gabe.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

**I loved the place.**

"You would," said Annabeth, shuddering from the mention of spiders.

"Honestly, Percy," said Piper. "It sounds horrible."

"It's not that bad," defended Percy.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

Piper and Katie Bell smiled at that.

"That's sweet," muttered Alicia to herself.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

"She really must have been perfect for Poseidon," said Annabeth quietly, so only those close to her could hear.

"He must've really loved her, too," added Luna.

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What's with the blue food?" asked Tonks, turning her hair a neon blue colour.

Harry grinned at her.

"I'm sure the book will explain," said Percy.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. **

"Your mum is a genius," said Ron, eyes shining with mirth. "I mean, what better way to annoy Gabe?"

"Burn his cards," suggested Leo and Seamus in unison.

Their friends backed away slowly, making the two sons of Hephaestus grin childishly at each other.

**She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This - along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano - was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"Except yours is more like an obedient streak," said Annabeth.

"Details, my dear," smirked Jason.

Percy glared at his cousin.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. **

Leo smiled slightly, touching the tips of his fingers.

**We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. **

Harry smiled sadly. He wished he remembered his parents. Maybe Sirius could tell him about them sometime...

**She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

"At least she's got Paul now," said Nico.

Ernie nodded.

**Eventually, I got****up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk - my father. **

"She might not like that," muttered Harry.

Jon and Sirius turned to look at him curiously.

Helena shook her head. "Definitely not," she said.

Ron frowned. "Is your father –,"

Ginny quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. "We're sorry, Helena. He's an idiot."

Helena shrugged. "It's alright. My mother died when I was six. I was sent to live with my aunt... She was great and everything, but she'd always cry when I'd ask her about my mother..."

Helena stared into the table, allowing Evelyn to soothe her. Ron silently wondered where her father had been, but didn't ask.

**Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

"I know what you mean," said Harry softly, remembering all the times he had been told how much he looked like his father.

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"He is now," said Annabeth.

Blaise smiled at Percy. He wished Nemesis was as proud of him as Poseidon was of Percy. But she didn't care. She never even spoke to him... He had only been claimed a couple of years ago, right after the Battle of Manhattan.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"Your father doesn't care about that," said Theodore.

"I know," said Percy quietly.

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

Evelyn's temper flared at that. "It's so typical of them!" she yelled. "They always do that! They always leave and then... then they have the nerve to come up to us and say they're proud of us and they love us! I hate them all!"

Helena tried to soothe her friend again. She, too, felt a peculiar sense of familiarity when those books were being read.

But then Theodore noticed something no one else did. A glow of magic around her... Could she be...? "Why don't you three come sit here? We'd love someone to keep us company when we wallow in our self-pity," he said drily.

He knew she'd never join them unless her friends were with her. The three looked at each other and then nodded. Jon looked at Theodore uncertainly.

"Can Harry come too?" he asked.

Jon felt safe around the young Gryffindor – Harry didn't ask many questions and seemed to understand them.

"Sure," said Theodore, shrugging.

Harry raised an eyebrow, but made no comment. He smiled at Ginny, Ron and Sirius and joined the three newcomers.

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

"He probably visited you when your mum was away," said Zacharias. "I know my dad did."

Tonks frowned in confusion. "Why would he have to sneak in? I mean, your mother still loved him, right?"

Hermione was starting to have doubts about that Mrs Jackson. "I thought you said he was dead?"

"He isn't," said Luna bluntly.

Thalia snickered at Hermione's affronted expression. "Yes," he said to Tonks. "Mrs Jackson still loved her husband, but... he wasn't allowed to visit his child. He wasn't even allowed to _sire _Percy – we," she said, motioning to herself, Jason, Percy and Nico, "weren't supposed to be born."

Hermione's frown deepened. Why did those people make no sense?!

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me ...**

Harry smiled sadly at him.

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"It's not stupid," said Thalia quietly. "I – I hate _him_, too. He's the reason my mother... did these things..."

"Did she –?" Harry didn't want to finish the question, but he was sure Thalia understood.

"Only sometimes," admitted Thalia, not knowing why she was spilling everything to a stranger. "When she was drunk... That's why I ran away..."

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

"You really hated those schools, didn't you?" said Chris.

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

Thalia stood up and slapped Percy, then calmly walked back to her seat.

Annabeth glared at him. "Percy!" she cried.

McGonagall looked at him, her lips pursed. "Mr Jackson," she said sternly. "You know very well how much your mother has given up for you."

Percy flinched at the reminder. "I know! It was a mistake, alright?"

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I - I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said - that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

"It's not just Yancy," said Andromeda. "You can't stay anywhere for too long."

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Precisely," said Theodore.

Percy rolled his eyes.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yanc****y ****Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

"Oh, Sally," whispered McGonagall to herself. "He's never safe..."

"Well, camp's always an option," said Piper hopefully.

"Some demigods have to leave camp, Princess," sneered Clarisse without her usual venom.

Chris and Annabeth looked at her knowingly, but Clarisse shook her head.

**"Safe from what?"**

"Oh, nothing much," said Nico casually, "just my father and his horde of monsters who want to kill you."

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me - all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

"Some?" questioned Jon. "Why would you want to remember any of them?"

Percy shrugged slightly.

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

Annabeth shuddered violently. Thalia ran a hand through her blonde hair. "They're long gone now, Annie," she said soothingly.

Ernie frowned. "Why would a Cyclops be there?" he asked. "Doesn't your father control them?"

"Maybe he was there to check on Percy," said Luna.

Helena, Evelyn and Jon frowned, remembering when they, too, had met a Cyclops. Helena, being the eldest at fifteen, had found out about those strange monsters first and told Jon and Evelyn her suspicions, but they had brushed it off, until now...

Jon and Evelyn were almost positive Helena was right. Maybe there really was some higher power that was long-forgotten by mortals...

**Before that - a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

Harry blinked. "Like Heracles?" he asked.

His eyes widened. He had never been taught about Heracles... How did that happen?

"Harry?" said Annabeth, regarding him curiously. "How often does this happen?"

He shook his head. "It's the first time..."

Annabeth didn't take her eyes off him, but Hannah continued.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

"Yeah," snickered Fred, "like shooting a cannonball at the bus."

George laughed along with his brother.

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"Idiot boy," snapped Snape. "You should have told her!"

"I know," said Percy. "But what can I do now?"

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. **

"It wasn't," said Dean. "My mum let me go too early and I couldn't handle myself alone."

"You ended up in good hands," said Luna softly.

Ginny, Bill, Ron, Charlie and Hermione looked at her questioningly. Ron scowled. Why wouldn't Harry tell him what was going on?!

**But there's only one other option, Percy - the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

"She has to let go sometime," said Pollux.

"She can't hold on to her son forever," added Hannah.

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"It does sound strange, though," commented Ted.

"Why didn't he stay long enough to send his child to the camp himself?" raged Molly. "How could he leave his family like that?!"

Snape's eyes hardened. "Mr Jackson's father had no choice but to leave. It was a matter of life and death for himself and his family."

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad - who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born - talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

"Because you would have ended up like Annie," said Connor, grinning broadly.

Annabeth unsheathed her dagger*, effectively cutting off his and his brother's laughter.

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Tonks. "What's wrong with Annabeth?"

"She ended up at camp rather... early," said Chris, a fond smile touching his lips.

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look****in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I - I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

"Let go, woman," seethed Snape. "He has to go at some point."

Molly and Hermione glared at him.

"Wait," said Charlie suddenly. "I thought this was a summer camp. Why would she say good-bye for good?"

The demigods didn't answer. Zacharias glared at Charlie slightly.

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

"Poor woman," muttered Poppy and Andromeda.

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

"I hate those," grumbled the demigods and, unsurprisingly, Harry.

"You get them too?" asked Jason, turning to him.

"Yeah," replied Harry lightly. "But I think they're... different."

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. **

Jason, Thalia and Percy looked at each other.

"That doesn't bode well," said Annabeth.

"You think, Annie?" snorted Thalia.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. **

Percy flinched, remembering the dream.

Thalia looked at the sky and shook her head.

**The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

"Hades?" whispered Piper. "Or Kronos?"

Annabeth stared at her dagger. Chris closed his eyes. The Stoll brothers flinched.

Jon and Evelyn observed their reactions.

"It wasn't Hades," said Nico grimly. "At least not the way Father tells it..."

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. **

"Kronos," confirmed Ernie and Seamus.

Leo stared at the senior demigods in amazement. "You've –,"

"Fought him?" finished Blaise with a cocky smirk. "Why, yes, we have..."

Pollux, Thalia, Clarisse and Annabeth winced. Helena tried to figure out whom they had lost in the war.

**I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!**

**I woke with a start.**

"That's how they usually end," said Dean and Leo cheerfully.

Seamus rolled his eyes and Piper cuffed Leo.

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

Jason snorted. "They're still angry, though."

"Now there's some news," said Sirius drily. "Your fathers are angry... How odd..."

Thalia gave him a grin. She was really starting to appreciate Mr Black's humour.

Helena, seeing Jon was becoming tired, made him lean against her. He smiled gratefully and laid his head against her shoulder. Evelyn smiled at the two of them.

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. **

"Now, now, Uncle," said Nico, smirking.

Percy rolled his eyes.

Ron raised an eyebrow. What did Nico's uncle have to do with anything?

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

"What is it?!" cried Tonks, Ginny, Colin and Jon.

Evelyn frowned at Jon. "Have we not told you not to make yourself so comfortable around possible enemies?" she hissed.

Jon shrugged slightly. "They healed us," he said quietly. "And they haven't hurt us..."

_Yet_, thought Helena.

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice - someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

"Ten drachmas it's Grover," muttered Chris.

Travis snorted. "Not stupid enough to take that bet," he said.

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"No?" asked Leo. "What was wrong with him?"

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror - not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

Clarisse snorted. "Scared of Grover..."

Thalia grinned to herself, remembering how careful the young satyr had been around Annabeth. He would always tend to her every need and he had never raised his voice to her, despite his constant arguments with Luke.

Luke had been used to protecting his two allies alone and hadn't trusted Grover. With time, however, they both got used to the idea and settled on leading together.

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

"Idiot," said Snape and Annabeth in unison.

"You should have told your mother everything, Percy," said McGonagall, not unkindly.

"I know!" replied Percy.

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

"What?" demanded Leo and Jake.

Travis, Connor, Fred and George leaned forward in their seats.

**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. **

"Pardon?" said Ted, raising an eyebrow.

"Watch your language," scolded McGonagall and Annabeth.

**"It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

"Apparently not," said Snape, still seething.

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on - and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...**

"What?" yelled Fred, George, Tonks, Ginny and Charlie.

Percy smiled mysteriously.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

"Poor woman," sighed Annabeth.

"At least you had the sense to tell her then!" raged Thalia.

Annabeth knew what was coming. She glanced at Percy, then the rest of the demigods, and finally the newcomers. Percy had been the only one not to be at the receiving end of Thalia's angrier rants.

Annabeth looked at the three guests again. "Brace yourselves," she said with a hint of amusement as Jon's eyes went wide.

"HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE COULD HAVE BEEN SPARED, HAD YOU NOT BEEN SO STUPID?" screamed Thalia. "WHAT IF YOU HAD GOT KILLED THAT NIGHT, PERCY? WHAT IF YOUR MOTHER OR GROVER HAD BEEN KILLED? DID YOU THINK OF THAT?"

Percy flinched away, cowering from Thalia's rage.

"WHAT IF YOU HADN'T MADE IT TO CAMP ON TIME, JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BEING STUPID? DID YOU THINK FOR A SECOND, PERCY, THAT THIS INFORMATION COULD BE IMPORTANT TO YOUR MOTHER?! DID YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE ME?"

At this, Annabeth and Grover flinched as well. Thalia flopped back down on her seat, glaring intently at Percy.

"What's it to you?" demanded her cousin. "You didn't even know me then!"

Annabeth restrained Thalia from attacking Percy.

"Enough!" said Clarisse. "Thalia, Prissy's obviously alive, fortunately or not, and this happened nearly seven years ago! Let it go!"

Hannah continued reading to avoid any further rows.

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"**

**Grover ran for the Camaro - but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, **

"Trotting?" asked Helena. "How can a man _trot_?"

She received no answer.

**shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.****Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. **

"How come?" said Bill.

**There were cloven hooves.**

"Satyr," said Harry immediately.

He blinked. He'd done it again! How did he even know what a satyr was?

"Harry," said Annabeth. "We need to talk later."

Harry nodded numbly.

"This is the end," declared Hannah.

"I suggest we retire for tonight and continue tomorrow," said McGonagall. "Prefects, lead your Houses to their respective dormitories. Mr Potter, you stay here."

Thalia, Annabeth, Percy, Nico, Sirius, Andromeda, Tonks and Remus stayed as well. Harry wasn't upset. He wanted to know the truth. Why was he blurting out such words? Words he had never heard of. Words that made sense only to those demigods...

_*(A/N: I know it was lost in Tartarus, but just like the demigods' ages, I've conveniently decided to ignore that)_


	4. Beautiful Memories

TheVintageIce – I don't have any drachmas (sadly!)... I hope you're okay with euros...

Pikachu79 – Thanks! And Harry's in for a different adventure this time.

Percyjacksonfan135 – I'm glad you do!

BookFreak – Thanks!

Kerowyn6 – I know, but both sides (demigods and professors) have appeared to be a bit unreasonable at times. And I agree with you. But I'm sorry for any overreaction.

Guest – I just don't. Some people don't like Luke, others don't like Ethan. I don't like Tyson, and he isn't very important to my story. Plus, I can't write him well. Sorry!

Mariepc – You'll see, but... Yeah, I'm that predictable...

Taeniaea – Thanks!

Ro781727 – Thalia was just worried for Percy (in my eyes). And I know I kind of overdid it with those three, but I thought it really was horrible of Percy to say that, twelve or not. It's going to be a while since the gods are going to be revealed to all of Hogwarts.

Fixed the chapter! Sorry for taking it down, but I fixed it as fast as I could!

Chapter Four: Beautiful Memories

"Harry," began Annabeth immediately after the Great Hall's doors shut. "Do you think you know what could be happening with your... sudden knowledge of those so-called 'myths'?"

The younger boy shrugged slightly, suddenly uncomfortable around the large crowd. "It just happens... I mean, it's never happened before. I just suddenly – know those things."

Annabeth bit her lip contemplatively. "Could he be one... or at least a descendant?"

"Yes," said Sirius distractedly, closing his eyes after realising his blunder.

He exhaled slowly. What had he just said?

Harry spun around instantly. "What?!"

Andromeda brought a hand to her face. "_You bloody idiot_," she said to Sirius slowly, emphasising every word. "Do you realise what you just did?!" she snapped, faster and more forcefully than before.

"Sirius..." croaked Harry.

Then his godfather's words echoed in his mind_. "I want you to know, no matter what happens today, your parents always loved you... And I do too."_

Harry inhaled slowly.

"He's not really a demigod," said Sirius, regaining his composure. "James – he was..."

"Are you implying that I did not know about my own godson's parentage?" said McGonagall sharply. "I've lived my entire life by Charlus and Dorea – _never_ have I heard of such a thing!"

Sirius closed his eyes. "Let me explain, Minerva, please."

He took a deep, rattling breath. "James found out he was a demigod quite late. He was already thirteen. The summer before third year, Charlus asked me to take him to camp. I was so shocked... Well, I couldn't refuse him. But I had to ask him first...Which one was his parent, I mean..."

Minerva wished Sirius would collect his thoughts and speak properly. This was important!

"Charlus refused to tell me. He said the time wasn't right... I took James and called a satyr. The satyr... backed out of the quest. James was too powerful."

"Would you get to the point?" snapped Nico. "Who's his parent?"

"Zeus," replied Sirius heavily. "James Potter was the son of Zeus."

Silence.

"You're lying," said Harry finally.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Harry, I have no reason to lie to you about this. Being a legacy won't attract as many monsters, but you must take caution. A legacy of Zeus is as powerful as child of a lesser god."

"That still doesn't explain why I spew mythological terms," grumbled Harry.

"This isn't mythology, Mr Potter! Stop referring to it as such – the gods find it impertinent!" said McGonagall sharply.

"Every Olympian gives their child or legacy a gift necessary for their survival. Zeus – your biological grandfather – gave Thalia a collapsible spear and shield, Poseidon gave Percy a magical sword, Athena gave Annabeth a cap that turns her invisible, and so on," said Nico. "It's possible that as you already had a wand, Zeus chose to give you information."

"Does he have the power to do so?" asked Annabeth. "Knowledge and wisdom are in my mother's domain."

"I do not pretend to know how a god's mind works," said Sirius.

Harry sat down, dizzy and confused. "So... My dad was the son of Zeus... And now I – I'm like... like them?"

Percy nodded. "It's always a bit of a shock for everyone, but don't worry."

Without another word, Harry left the Great Hall and climbed up to Gryffindor Tower. He didn't care what Sirius said. He had to speak to Ron.

"Ron, mate, are you awake?" he asked, entering his dormitory.

Ron sat up in his bed. "Yeah?"

"I've got to tell you something. But you can't tell anyone else."

"Right," said Ron. "What is it?"

Harry bit his lip. There was no going back now. He had betrayed Sirius's trust. He had disappointed the only man who cared about him...

Ron slung an arm around his shoulder for comfort. "Harry?"

"You know those weird guests, right?" said Harry tentatively.

"They're a bit hard to miss," said Ron amusedly. "Why do you ask?"

Harry quickly began to explain everything Sirius had told him the first day. When he finished, Ron stared at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"You're joking!"

Harry shook his head forlornly. "I wish. But no," he said, a bitter edge to his tone. "I'm the bloody grandson of a bloody Ancient Greek god!"

Ron tightened his grip on Harry's shoulders. "Don't worry, mate. It's going to be alright. Try to get some sleep now."

Ron swore he'd never abandon Harry again. If the gods wanted to mess with his friend, then he'd stand by him, even if it cost him his life.

_Time Skip_

That morning, all the Hogwarts residents gathered in the Great Hall. Molly fussed over the demigods and newcomers, trying to feed them more than they could eat. She understood it wasn't her job to do so, but she felt her heart constrict every time she saw them so thin and pale, covered in scars...

Ron sat next to Harry, invoking questioning looks from the demigods.

"And you are...?" said Clarisse.

"Ron Weasley and Harry's best friend," answered Ron curtly.

That girl rubbed him the wrong way.

"Shall we begin again?" said Poppy after the plates and cutlery had disappeared.

"I'm fairly certain this is where the nightmare begins," said Grover.

"I'll read this chapter, then," offered Dean.

Harry scowled. He really didn't care anymore. He didn't want to be one-fourth supernatural being!

Percy seemed to sense his thoughts and patted him on the back. "Don't worry about it. It gets better, promise."

"Not by much," said Leo, "but better."

"_Thank you_, _Leo_," said Piper in a tone that clearly indicated he should remain quiet.

"Right," said Leo. "Sorry."

Dean cleared his throat. "Miss McLean, Mr Valdez," he said mockingly, "If you're done acting like children..."

Then he leaned closer to Harry. "Are you ready, mate?" he asked quietly.

Harry nodded uncertainly. Dean gave him a reassuring smile and began.

"**Chapter Four: My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting," **he read.

"That's... nice?" said Ginny.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

"That's a way to drive," laughed Nico.

Justin nodded approvingly.

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants. **

"Shag-carpet pants," echoed Tonks, laughing.

Annabeth and Piper grimaced, while Katie looked slightly disturbed.

"Better than what Annie once asked him," said Thalia, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Annabeth blushed and Percy looked at her curiously.

"You mean when she asked me if I have a tail?" said Grover irritably.

Percy, Travis, Connor, Chris, Clarisse, Harry, Jason and Leo dissolved into fits of laughter. Jake smiled amusedly and Katie's lips twitched.

Sirius winked at Annabeth.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo –**

"Oh, goody," said Hannah drily. "Grover smells like a petting zoo."

**lanolin****, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard****animal****.**

Grover huffed indignantly.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

"Smooth," laughed Sirius. "Well done, Percy!"

Percy blushed. "I was confused!"

**Graver's eyes flitted to the rear-view****mirror****, though there were no cars behind us. **

"Cars are the least of your worries in that case," said McGonagall.

**"Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"That makes you sound like a stalker," said Luna helpfully.

"Thank you," said Grover sarcastically.

**"Watching me?"**

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being****your friend****," he added hastily. **

"Convincing," teased Chris.

**"I am ****your friend****."**

**"Urn ...****what are you****, exactly?"**

"Be polite, dear," Molly chided lightly.

Percy blushed. "Sorry..."

"What are you," repeated Annabeth. "Honestly, Percy..."

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down,****my best friend****is a donkey –"**

"Donkey," snickered Thalia. "L-Luke used to call him that..."

The mood sobered immediately.

"Among other things," said Travis.

"Other things?" asked Jon.

"Goat-boy, Goat-man, The Barnyard Escapee, Grover the Goat –,"

"Enough," interrupted Grover, blushing.

**Grover****let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"**

"Very philosophical," mused George, pretending to stroke his chin.

Fred mimicked his position, humming to himself.

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

"Will you bleat for us, dearie?" said Tonks in a voice reminiscent of her aunt's.

Andromeda and Sirius shuddered.

"Don't do that, dear," said Andromeda softly.

Tonks frowned slightly. She knew she had done something to remind her mother of the Blacks. That was the tone Andromeda took with her when that happened – a slight reprimand laced with guilt and longing.

**"Goat!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

**"I'm a goat from the waist down."**

"You said it didn't matter!" cried the Elder Three children, including Harry.

**"You just said it didn't matter."**

"Tactlessness also seems to be genetic," said Zacharias, echoing his half-brother's words from the previous day.

**"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"**

"Is it really an insult, seeing as you're considered animals in either case?" said Theodore.

"Theo?" said Blaise.

"Hmm?"

"Shut up."

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those****old ladies****at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

"We wish," snorted Ernie.

**"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"You're a quick one," said Sirius jokingly.

"Sirius!" admonished Remus and Molly in unison.

**"Of course."**

**"Then why - "**

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract,"****Grover****said, like that should be perfectly obvious. **

"I still don't get that and I've been at camp for nearly a decade," said Pollux to his group of friends. "What do we smell like to monsters?"

The demigods looked at each other and shrugged.

**"We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"Dun –,"

"Dun –,"

"DUUUNNN!" exclaimed Fred and George.

**"Who I - wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

**"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and****not enough time****. We have to get you to safety."**

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

"Not who; what," corrected Ted.

"Does it really matter?" asked Andromeda. "It's dangerous either way."

**"Oh, nobody much,"****Grover****said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. **

"Get over yourself, Goat-boy," said Clarisse.

**"Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"Subtle," laughed Ron.

"Hark who's talking!" exclaimed Ginny.

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

"Crashing before getting to camp would classify as _bad_, Grover," said Annabeth drily.

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. **

"I beg to differ," said Piper. "Your dreams..."

"Are bloody terrifying," finished Ron helpfully.

**I could never dream up something this weird.**

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on****white picket fences****.**

**"Where are we going?" I asked.**

**"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

Snape glared at him. "Mr Jackson..."

"Sorry, sir," said Percy.

Then he turned to Nico. "Will he stop this already?" he hissed.

Nico shrugged.

**"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

"I would've hit you after all those questions," admitted Zacharias.

Evelyn silently agreed with him.

**"Because some****old ladies****cut yarn."**

**"Those weren't****old ladies,"****Grover****said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means - the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."**

Andromeda closed her eyes. "Grover," she said after a pause. "I could tell you all the reasons why you shouldn't have said that, but I think you already know."

"I do," said Grover heavily.

**"Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

"Wonderful observation," grinned Seamus, trying to lighten the mood.

Everyone could see the grin was forced, but no one commented.

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

**"You meant 'you.' As in me."**

**"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."**

**"Boys!" my mom said.**

"It's a wonder the poor woman's still sane between the two of you," laughed Tonks.

Suddenly, a light similar to the one that had dropped the three newcomers flashed. No one moved this time.

"Who do you think it is?" whispered Dennis to his brother.

Helena stood defensively before her two allies.

The light faded and a couple of people appeared. Sirius, Ted and Remus immediately helped them up from their lying position.

The first one was clearly the woman described in the books – Sally Jackson. The second, a man about her age with greying hair and a friendly smile. The third was a man in a wheelchair. He had a scraggly beard and brown eyes.

The demigods rushed to him and greeted their mentor eagerly, telling him what had happened in the past few days.

Paul and Sally introduced themselves. "So now we've got mortals as well?" demanded Clarisse. "What's next? The gods themselves?"

"Don't test your luck," said Chris, "or they really might appear."

Once everyone had understood who the new guests were, Dean continued reading.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid - a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

"Monster," said Blaise helpfully.

"I had no idea," said Percy sarcastically.

**"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

**I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness - the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. **

"That really was horrible," said Hannah. "Good thing Ernie and I only met her once."

"You travelled together?" said Sirius.

The two half-bloods nodded.

**My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

"Oh, you think?" said Thalia, rolling her eyes.

"Is the sarcasm entirely necessary?" asked Blaise exasperatedly.

Thalia didn't dignify his question with an answer.

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover****about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.**

"What?!" demanded Sirius. "How?!"

"Magic," replied Ron, grinning despite the tension.

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all****at the same time****.**

"Sounds lovely," said Piper, looking disturbed.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

"I'm not surprised," said Paul, not unkindly.

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay... ."**

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right****off the road****.**

"Father!" cried Thalia and Jason.

"Honestly," grumbled Thaliato herself. "You'd think a three-millennia-old god would have been a bit more mature about this situation..."

Helena hugged Jon to her chest, playing with his messy blond hair.

"Perhaps," she said. "But I don't see why you have so much faith in them..."

**Next to me****in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

"Should I take offence to that?" asked Grover.

"Not the time, mate," said Ernie.

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even****if you are****half barnyard animal, you're****my best friend****and I don't want you to die!**

"Very loving," said Jake drily.

Chiron's eyes twinkled. "Indeed."

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

The Weasley siblings laughed.

"Sounds familiar, anyone?" said Ginny.

Ron blushed a deep red colour. Harry chuckled at him.

**"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.**

"Get there alive?" suggested Leo. "Dunno about you, but that's what I'd try to do..."

"One more word, Leo," threatened Jason.

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. **

"Which one is it?" asked Helena, concern and worry etching her features.

"Does it matter?" replied Evelyn. "It's dangerous anyway."

**The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. **

"Really, Percy?" laughed Katie.

Sirius shrugged. "I thought that too, when I first met it. Although I was nine..."

**His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

"Made it look like," coughed Travis.

"Shut up, Stoll," said Percy.

**I swallowed hard. "Who is - "**

"Someone who should not be sent after twelve-year-old _children_!" raged Andromeda. "Severus! You _will_ speak to him, understand?"

Snape let out a sigh. "Do not be unreasonable, Andromeda."

A few people raised their eyebrows at the familiarity of the two, but no one commented.

**"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. **

"You wouldn't try that," said Jon, wincing slightly. "It could burn or cut you."

**It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy - you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

Thalia winced. Grover bowed his head. Helenaand Evelyn observed their reactions, the latter with a confused expression.

**"What?"**

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

**"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

"Would that really work?" asked Zacharias. "If there's one of them there, there are a hundred more behind him."

Theodore nodded distractedly. "Monsters always attack in groups."

**"Mom, you're coming too."**

"Percy," said Annabeth softly.

She couldn't find the words to speak. She knew his fatal flaw was loyalty, but he didn't need to be reminded...

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

**"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

"Grover," said Katie tersely. "Now's a good time to stop moaning."

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands - huge meaty hands - were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns...**

"Were horns," finished Clarisse and Evelyn in unison. "We get it."

**"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

**"But..."**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

Annabeth inhaled deeply and counted to ten. Percy was alright. He was safe.

**I got mad, then - mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"Technically speaking," said Luna, "it's only half bull."

"Technically speaking," said Hannah in a slightly mocking tone, "it can still kill you."

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

"Just go! For the love of Merlin, Jackson!" said McGonagall. "Go, boy, please!"

**"I told you - "**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

"Percy," said Chiron in a solemn tone. "Your loyalty is admirable. However, you do know it could be your downfall. Control your weaknesses, my boy."

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

"We'll work on that," said Hannah and Katie.

Chiron frowned. "Dionysus was the one who was supposed to do that. Do not bother yourselves with it."

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine - bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps,**

Andromeda and Poppy cringed at the last comment.

"A bunch of other ''ceps'" muttered McGonagall.

**all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear - I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms - which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns - enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

"Where do you come up with these comments?" said Paul amusedly. "Most people would be worried about dying, but no! You think about sharpened horns!"

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"That's what we all thought, wasn't it?" said Seamus bitterly. "But it doesn't matter now. The gods made those beasts and we pay the price."

Percy stared at him sadly. He hadn't known Seamus was so bitter toward the gods. But he was right... The monster had been entirely the gods' and titans' and old heroes' mistakes. Why did they have to suffer because of them?

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's - "**

"Don't say his name," said Thalia.

"Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," recited Hermione.

"Hermione," said Ron, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I'm not an expert in this, but I'm fairly certain it's not the same for them."

**"Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

"When you put it that way..." said Chris.

**"But he's the Min - "**

"Don't say his name!" was the general outcry.

**"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

Hermione made to recite her favourite quote again, but Ron clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Thank you," mouthed Dean.

**The pine tree was still way too far - a hundred yards uphill at least.**

"Who's idea was it to build camp on a hill of all places, anyway?" said Pollux.

"Fewer mortals pass through a barren valley than a city every day. It's easier to use the Mist when there are fewer people to hide something from," said Annabeth.

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows - or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling.**

"Its sense of sight is terrible," said Andromeda. "As long as you can confuse it, you'll be alright."

"How is he supposed to do _that_?!" cried Theodore.

**I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

**"Food?" Grover moaned.**

Grover blushed.

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

"Apparently not," said Charlie to himself.

"There's that, at least," said Tonks.

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro** **by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. **

Tonks looked slightly green. "At least you'd got out of it..."

Hannah grinned. "Not one scratch, Percy!"

Blaise, Ernie, Theodore and Luna laughed.

**He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. **

Colin jumped at that**. **Remus put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

**It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

A few people looked sick.

**Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.**

Ron smiled slyly.

**Oops.**

"There they go again," said Jake, rolling his eyes.

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way - directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

"How do you know?" asked a bewildered Jon

Sally smiled warmly at the boy girl in Helena's arms. "It's better to be prepared early than to regret not having prepared yourself at all," she said. "I had been studying these things for years, in case anything attacked Percy."

The boy looked so young, younger than Percy had seemed at the exact same age. Jon had a strange look about him. A type of despair and dejectedness, but hopeful at the same time, as if he was trying to preserve some of his childish innocence.

**"How do you know all this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

"You weren't selfish," said Andromeda softly. "Any mother would have done that. You're not to blame."

**"Keeping me near you? But - "**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

Jon's eyes widened as he leaned into Helena.

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

Grover bowed his head in shame. "I should have protected you," he said quietly.

"You protected me throughout an entire school year, three quests and a war. You're the best protector anyone could ask for," said Percy honestly.

"A _war_?" echoed Bill.

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

"Run," whispered a terrified Dennis.

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right - it was our only chance. **

"Good," said Ted. "Listen to your mother."

Tonks snorted. "Don't worry, Percy – I've been getting that for the past twenty years."

**I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

Annabeth squeezed his hand.

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. **

"You should have given him the pen," said Annabeth to Chiron.

Chiron only smiled faintly.

"How would he have known what to do with it?" asked Luna. "The Mist was affecting him."

**So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

Piper, Thalia, Annabeth and Nico let out sighs of relief.

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

"Run," whispered Jon, his face pale as a ghost's.

Sally moved next to him. She gently ran a hand through his hair. "Everyone's alright, my boy. No one's hurt."

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

"Don't think about it," snapped Zacharias. "Just run!"

"Would you leave your mother and best friend behind?" demanded Percy.

Zacharias flinched, remembering his deranged mother. 

_Anna Smith grinned cruelly as her son looked for an exit. _

"_Please, mother," muttered ten-year-old Zacharias, "why are you doing this?" _

"_Your father left me because of you, boy!" she snarled. "You should know – you deserve this!" _

_She made to strike him, but Zacharias performed feat of accidental magic, blasting her into the nearest wall. He ran upstairs to the safety of his room, locked the door with trembling hands and slumped down against it. Never mind that it could be unlocked with a simple Alohomora. He needed to feel safe._

"Don't speak of my mother," he hissed. "You know nothing about her!"

Percy narrowed his eyes. He knew some demigods didn't get along with their mortal parents, but how bad could it be?

"Be silent, Percy," warned Nico.

Zacharias had told him of his mother's doings in a fit of rage in Yorkshire a couple of years ago.

Theodore and Ernie exchanged curious looks.

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"Underwood, are you aware what the word 'protector' means?" demanded Snape. "Or were you under the notion that a mortal and a boy shy of twelve were supposed to survive the attack themselves?"

"Shut up!" yelled Thalia.

"Way to make a big deal out of it," grumbled Seamus.

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. **

Dennis whimpered and curled into himself. Andromedasoothed him, telling her that Mrs Jackson was alright.

Dean and Blaise winced.

**He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummelling the air.**

Sirius closed his eyes and prayed to Merlin that Sally would be alright.

**"Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

Harry and Luna turned away to hide their bitter tears. Percy flinched, remembering that night. Nico looked down, remembering his own mother.

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. **

Silence reigned over the Great Hall. No one could think of something to say. Except McGonagall, that is.

"Severus Snape," she said in a deadly quiet voice. "I _demand _and answer!"

"An answer?" demanded Snape. "Do you think this was my doing, Minerva?"

"I was under the impression you knew about this particular... way of abduction."

"The bolt was stolen. He wanted a hostage," said Snape simply.

**A blinding flash and she was simply ... gone.**

_Gone_, thought Sirius. The lifeless bodies of James and Lily Potter flashed before his eyes, nearly causing him to cry out in agony. _Dead before they hit the ground. _

**"No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs - the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

"The joys of ADHD," said Jason sarcastically. "It always comes the moment after you need it."

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. **

Severus glared daggers at Grover. "Mr Underwood," he said. "I will have a talk with you after this chapter, concerning your... abilities."

Chiron turned his brown eyes to Snape. "Severus, I do not think this will be necessary. I have already spoken to young Grover about this incident."

Snape inclined his head. "Of course, sir, but I do not think a recurrence of this conversation will do him any harm. With your consent, of course."

"Very well, Severus. But I must ask you to control yourself, or the consequences will be most severe."

**The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

"My, my," said Snape icily. "A child couldn't allow his _protector _to be attacked."

"Shut up!" yelled Dean. "You're angry – we get it! It wasn't Grover's fault. This could happen to anyone!"

"Mr Thomas!" said Snape. "Do you wish to remain in detention until your seventh year? If not, do keep your mouth closed!"

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

"I've a bad feeling about this," sighed Zacharias.

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"Your insults are just..." Clarisse said amusedly.

"I'd rather my son not now any harsher insults," said Sally with a pointed look at the daughter of Ares.

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

Fred, George, the Stolls and Leo burst out laughing, despite the tension.

"You make him sound like an angry toddler," said Jason.

"Really," said Ron, "'Raaaarrrrr'really isn't the most intimidating of ways to describe something."

**I had an idea - a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. **

"Your ideas are always stupid," said Nico bluntly.

Harry snorted. "Funny. That's what Ron and Hermione always tell me."

Ron grinned and waved at the demigods, while Hermione blushed. _Why was Harry making her look bad?_

"Your ideas really aren't the best, mate," said Dean.

**I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

"It never does," said Zacharias, Luna, Thalia, Harry, Ron, Nico and Sirius.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

"That was a metaphor, right?" said Annabeth worriedly.

"A _what_?" said Percy.

"Time didn't really slow down, did it?" she rephrased.

Percy shrugged. "I don't think so."

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in mid-air, and landing on his neck.**

Colin's eyes widened. "How did you do that?" he asked, awed.

Percy's eyes shone with mirth. "Magic."

"Impressive," complimented Paul. "Though I'd rather you not get killed..."

Percy laughed hollowly.

"That was brilliant!" exclaimed Hannah and Zacharias.

Ernie, Blaise, Theodore and Luna grinned at each other.

**How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

A couple of people winced.

"Break its horn and stab it," suggested Evelyn.

Everyone who had been at camp that year stared at her.

"She's good," admitted Clarisse.

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. **

"Really now," grumbled Harry, still extremely upset over the news that he was Zeus's son.

**The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

"About time," said Annabeth.

"You didn't get that when it couldn't change directions while charging at you?" said Helena.

Percy blushed.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, **

Grover lowered his gaze. "Sorry," he whispered.

Percy clapped him on the back. "It's alright," he said.

**but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

Hannah winced.

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

Snape and, surprisingly, Ginny, were becoming very annoyed with him. Ginny, unlike Snape, however, tried to hide it.

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, **

Sirius, Percy, Nico, Luna, Harry and Susan flinched.

**made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel.**

Annabeth hugged him close, resting her head on his shoulder.

Sally stared somewhere in the distance, guilt, sadness and pride passing through her eyes at once.

**I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then - snap!**

A grin spread over Evelyn's face. "Wicked!"

Percy chuckled.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. **

A few people gasped. Madam Pomfrey cringed.

**When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

"Good!" exclaimed Sirius. "That's amazing!"

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barrelled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

Cheers rose from the demigods. The Weasleys applauded as well, especially Bill, who was fond of the art of swordsmanship.

"Percy, that was amazing!" cried Ron and Ernie.

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed; clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate - not like my mother, **

"That's your hint there," muttered Nico. "Mrs Jackson was kidnapped, not killed."

**in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

"It's kind of annoying when they get their dust all over you," commented Piper.

A couple of people looked at her oddly.

"She really _is_ a daughter of Aphrodite," whispered Leo to Jake and Seamus.

**The monster was gone.**

Annabeth relaxed and let go of Percy's hand.

**The rain had stopped. **

"About damn time," snarled Thalia.

Jason cuffed her lightly, making her scowl. "It's best not to anger him," was all he said.

**The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. **

Percy absentmindedly touched his head.

**I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. **

Jonbroke away from Helena's arms and walked over to Percy. He settled himself next to him and hugged him tightly. Percy smiled softly and returned the hug, absentmindedly running his hand through the younger boy's blonde hair.

The boy acted more like eight or nine years of age, opposed to his actual eleven.

**I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, **

Snape's eyes flashed. The demigods looked at him curiously. Why was he making such a big deal out of this?

**so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, **

Sally glanced at her son to make sure he was well. The sight of him with an eleven-year-old Jon Evans in his arms made her smile broadly.

**but I held on to Grover - I wasn't going to let him go.**

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man **

Thalia, Annabeth, Percy and the Stolls grinned at their mentor. Chiron smiled back at them, placing a hand on Connor's head.

**and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. **

Theodore laughed. "Princess, eh?"

Blaise, Ernie and Zacharias joined him, making Percy and Annabeth blush.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

"Is he?" said Travis, eyes alight with mirth.

**"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"That was the end," said Dean.

"That was... interesting," said Remus.

"Underwood," barked Snape. "Come with me!"

Grover swallowed almost audibly and followed Snape out of the Great Hall. Snape stalked into an empty classroom and shut the door behind him and Grover with wandless magic.

"Mr Underwood," said Snape in a deadly calm voice. "Kindly explain why you failed to protect Mr Jackson."

Grover swallowed nervously again, but forced himself to look up at Snape. "It was a mistake, sir. I was the youngest satyr to go on a mission and I was woefully unprepared. I assure you, my current missions are much more successful."

Snape snarled. He was forcibly reminded of Roger James, the satyr who had failed to protect Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa, the beautiful daughter of Eirene, the unclaimed child at camp... Severus had been very close to her and Sirius in his childhood days.

He and Narcissa had never been claimed due to their parentage and Sirius had been claimed his second summer at camp. Then, after their third year, it was time for the two boys to go to Hogwarts. Roger had gone with them to protect Narcissa, but he had failed. And Narcissa had never been the same again, even after Apollo's healing.

Sirius had begged his father to cure her, he had even asked Dionysus to help her with her mental health, but there were wounds even gods couldn't heal...

"Go," said Severus hoarsely. "And make sure you don't fail again."

"Yes, sir," said Grover, exiting quickly.

And he left Severus to his thoughts and memories...

_Question: _

_Should I make Neville a demigod? If so, who should be his parent?_

_Demeter or Ares? _


	5. The Battle of Edinburgh

Cursesgoddessgirl143 – Here's the next chapter then!

Taeniaea – Thanks! Glad you liked it!

Willowsong35 – That's a great idea! I never really thought about it.

PMJ – Alright, I'll think about Draco. I fear he may be an unpleasant addition to the Hogwarts demigods...

TheVintageIce – I know what you mean. It was weird for me to imagine him as a son of Ares, but he reminds me a little of Frank...

DaughterofHades2002 – Ceres? Alright, maybe...

Guest – I don't know; he reminds me of Frank! Kind, a little shy, but really brave

Guest – Yes, I took it down and reposted it, because I had to remove a couple of mistakes.

Ro781727, .35, Whovian Wolf (love your pen name, by the way!) – Alright! Thanks for the reviews!

Amaterasu1991 – That's one way to solve the dilemma...

My Spirit is an Arctic Fox – I'm glad you like it! Alright then, demigod Neville it is!

Percyperson13 – I'm sorry you didn't like it. As for the chapters, I have no intention of changing their length. I always found splitting chapters in two or more 'pieces' was irritating and unnecessary. Short chapters are disappointing and quick to end. (I know, I've written/read plenty of them). Nevertheless, thank you for reviewing.

Guest – It's _Andromeda _and _Nymphadora _and they both exist. Andromeda is Nymphadora's mother.

_A/N: I'm going to use an element I read in a Harry Potter 'Read the Books' I really loved. Sadly, I don't remember the name of the fic or author and the story's been taken down, so I can't credit them by name. Just know that the 'showing memories' idea is 'borrowed'._

_A/N 2: I've had this plot bunny bugging me for weeks: In a world where Voldemort doesn't exist, Grindelwald and Dumbledore rule Magical Britain together. Wizards and witches have lived the past fifty years in fear, but now it's time for change. A secret school is founded anonymously, where Muggleborns and half-bloods can study freely. Secret organisations are made and meetings are held. And the Wizard World is ready for revolution. _

_Thanks a lot for reading. Should I write it? _

Chapter Five: The Battle of Edinburgh

Sirius was one of the first people in the Great Hall the next morning. He hadn't been able to sleep well. He kept thinking about Harry. The fact that he had just learnt whose Legacy he was was bound to upset him. Andromeda, the only other person, didn't speak.

Surprisingly, it was the five Gryffindor fifth year boys and Hermione that appeared next.

"Good morning, Lord Black, Mrs Tonks," said Neville, bowing slightly.

The two Black cousins greeted him kindly.

"Shouldn't you address the lady first?" said Hermione, not unkindly. "That's how it's done in the Muggle world."

Neville shook his head. "Not here. We address wizards and witches in order of authority. Since Lord Black holds a very high position, it's only right to address him first."

The five boys and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table, Neville as far as he could from Andromeda without being rude. That didn't go unnoticed by the rest, especially Andromeda, who had the sinking feeling it had to do with her sister.

Sirius also noticed that Harry wouldn't look at him directly. Soon the Great Hall started filling.

"Who'd like to read this chapter?" asked Andromeda.

"I'll do it," said Bill.

Andromeda levitated the book to him.

"**Chapter Five," **read Bill. **"I Play Pinochle with a Horse," **

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "I happen to be a centaur."

Percy blushed. "Sorry!" 

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. **

"Sounds terrifying," laughed Evelyn, beginning to feel more comfortable around these strangers.

"Clearly, you've never been hit by Coach Hedge's bat," said Jason, completely serious.

Piper laughed, while Leo rubbed his head absentmindedly.

**Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"They've got their priorities straight," whispered Harry to Neville and Ron.

Jon stifled a laugh.

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. **

"Always the best option," said George seriously.

Fred nodded in agreement.

**I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was****pudding****. **

"That sounds disgusting, but oddly satisfying," said Sirius.

"It sounds disgusting. Period," said Remus.

**The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

"How I got stuck with the job, I'll never know," said Annabeth with a theatrical sigh.

Travis, Connor, Chris and Thalia smirked and made sounds of adoration at her.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the****summer solstice****?"**

"Really, Annie?" said Thalia, mirth clear in her voice.

Annabeth blushed. "I was twelve!"

"Thirteen," corrected Thalia. "Your birthday is on the fifteenth of April, is it not?"

"Shut up, Thalia," grumbled Annabeth.

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

"I don't know what I expected," joked Leo.

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

"Annabeth," said Chiron lightly.

"I know," she replied. "Sorry."

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."**

"Poor boy, you must've been so confused," said Molly affectionately.

Percy smiled at her.

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with****pudding.**

The Hogwarts students laughed.

"It's best to keep his mouth shut with something," said Ted, winking at Percy to show he was joking.

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

"Aww," said Thalia. "Already miss her, Kelp Head?"

Percy blushed. "I didn't even know what was going on!"

"That's new," said Clarisse.

**A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes - at least a dozen of them**

"Pardon?" said Remus. "A _dozen _of them?"

"He has a hundred and sixteen," said Travis.

"We counted!" exclaimed Connor proudly.

"Boys, you have better not treated him like something to be gaped and gawked at," said Chiron sternly.

**- on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

"Isn't it confusing?" said Luna, "being able to see with all of them at once?"

A couple of people shrugged.

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. **

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" said Sirius wistfully.

"It was," agreed McGonagall, "until _someone _decided to set the Big House on fire!"

"I was eight and the mummy scared me," said Sirius defensively, as if his excuse should explain everything.

**I was sitting in a****deck chair****on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at****green hills****in the distance. The****breeze****smelled like strawberries. **

"What is it with the strawberries, anyway?" said Jason.

"They're easy to grow," said Katie. "And we're not allowed to grow grapes, thanks to a certain god."

**There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. **

A couple of people winced.

**My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a****maraschino cherry****.**

"So we can afford those fancy cherries but we can't repaint the Hermes Cabin," grumbled Travis to himself.

Chiron overheard him. "I will get someone to do it immediately, Travis. You are right – far too many campers have lived there for it not to need a few corrections."

Travis blushed. "Sir, I didn't mean to –,"

"Silence, child," said Chiron, not unkindly. "You are right."

**My hand****was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was****leaning****against the****porch railing****, looking like he hadn't slept****in a week****. **

"It had actually been three days," corrected Annabeth.

Some people turned to look at her strangely.

"What?" she said.

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing****blue jeans****, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange****T-shirt****that said CAMP****HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.**

"Goat boy," snickered Seamus. "This name gets better every time."

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And...**

"Oh, Percy," said Sally heavily.

"I was really naïve, wasn't I?" said Percy, rubbing the back of his neck.

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently****, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. **

"You lot had better not touched it," said Andromeda sternly.

The demigods shook their heads.

"We've got more honour than that," said Travis, mocking indignity.

**It hadn't been a nightmare.**

"It usually isn't," said Helena in a would-be casual voice.

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

"Stop saying the bloody name," said Dean, cringing.

**"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea - "**

Ron looked warningly at Hermione before she could recite Dumbledore's favourite quote.

**"That's what they call him in the****Greek myths****, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

A Gryffindor first year shyly looked up at Chiron. "Sir?" he said. "Can I ask something?"

Chiron smiled. "Of course, child. What is it?"

"Why would anyone shag a bull?"

This evoked laughter from the rest of the Great Hall. Chiron was at loss for words. Tonks patted the boy's head.

"That's why you're in Gryffindor, my dear," she laughed.

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really ..."**

Luna closed her eyes. Bitter tears escaped her, streaming down her face. Why did her mother have to leave her? Theodore, who had developed a close bond with the younger Ravenclaw, wrapped his arms around her and soothed her.

**He looked down.**

Sally let out a small, almost inaudible sigh.

**I stared across****the meadow****. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge****pine tree****on top.**

"It sounds beautiful," said Harry.

"That's where you'll be taken to," said Hannah. "It really is beautiful, Harry..."

**Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should****look beautiful****.**

"Percy," said Sally gently. "The ones we love will eventually have to leave us. It hurts, but there isn't anything we can do, except move on. Fate will find a way for everyone."

Percy nodded numbly, feelings of guilt and pain and grief consuming him at the reminder of that day.

**"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm - I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

Severus sighed. Perfect. He had been belittling a goat with already low self-esteem.

Thalia cuffed Grover lightly. "You're not a failure," she said sharply.

**He moaned, stomping his****foot****so hard it came off. **

"Sorry?" laughed Ted. "His _foot _came off?"

"Yes," said Percy seriously. "His foot came off."

**I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"Ah," said Ted. "That makes more sense."

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Sorry," said Grover immediately, not sounding very remorseful.

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

Thalia and Jason rolled their eyes.

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake****foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. **

"They hadn't grown yet," said Grover, smiling slightly. "I was too young."

**But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs. All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

A surge of empathy ran through Andromeda. She placed a hand on Percy's messy hair and carded through it. It seemed wrong to do it when Sally was right in front of her, but Andromeda didn't really care.

**I was alone. An orphan. **

"That's the good thing about camp," said Katie. "You can always stay the entire year if you haven't got a home."

Harry looked up at that comment. "So if I have to go to that camp... I don't have to go back to my relatives?"

"Not if you don't want to," said Blaise.

**I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. **

"You're welcome to join us," said Helena drily.

"Where were you before coming here?" asked Ginny curiously.

"Nottingham," said Evelyn.

"Nottingham?" said Tonks. "Isn't that where Kingsley's from?"

"Yes," confirmed Sirius.

**I would pretend I was seventeen and****join the army****. **

"You looked more like ten than seventeen," said Clarisse with a snort.

**I'd do something.**

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid - poor goat, satyr, whatever –**

Thalia's lip twitched. "It's always confusing at first, eh?"

"Shut up, Thalia," groused Grover.

**looked as if he expected to be hit.**

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."**

"You were young, Grover," said Sally.

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."**

"As if Chiron would let you lose your job," said Ernie.

Chiron smiled. "Your faith in me is touching, Ernie, but there are some things out of my control. Grover's job is one of them. Of course, I'd do anything to help him, but it doesn't always depend on me."

**"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

**"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. **

"How can you not like it?" demanded Nico.

"I never said I didn't like it," said Percy. "I said it's not what I expected."

"What does it taste like?" asked Charlie.

"It tastes different for each person," said Luna. "Depends on what they like."

"What does it taste like for you?" Ron asked Sirius.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Firewhiskey," he said awkwardly.

Harry flinched slightly. Did Sirius get drunk often like Vernon? Did he become violent when he was intoxicated?

**It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies - my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. **

"I think I like Percy's version better," said Ron.

Sirius grinned wickedly.

"You'd better," said Molly sternly. "I'll not have my underage son drinking alcohol."

"It doesn't actually intoxicate you," said Sirius. "The taste's just an illusion."

**Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

A few people smiled at the image. Jon looked down, remembering his own mother.

_Florence Evans knelt down before her son and looked at him. _

"_It's time now, my dear child. You have to run. The gentle winds will guide you west. I love you, Jon. But you have to go now. I know you'll come back home." _

_She pulled out a beautiful ring. It was an elaborately decorated, though small, oval plaque made of pure gold, surrounded by carefully sculpted pieces of the same shining gold. In the centre of the plaque lay a tear-shaped piece of lapis lazuli. _

_Florence slid it on his ring finger, regarding him with love and pride. _

"_When you need help, the answer will come to you. This is more than just a ring, Jon. This is goodbye, my boy. I love you more than you could know." _

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but****the ice****cubes hadn't even melted.**

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

"Good thing you didn't give him," said Zacharias.

"Why?" asked Ginny curiously.

"He would have died," said Luna simply.

"Slowly and painfully," added Chris for good measure.

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."**

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

"Is that good?" asked Colin.

"For Percy, yes," said Sirius. "For Nancy, probably not so much. It really just depends on how you look at it."

**"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."**

**"What do you mean?"**

"That it can kill you," said Luna bluntly.

"We get it," said Fred, looking a bit sick.

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on****to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

"What is it?" asked Remus concernedly.

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched****all the way****up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture **

Annabeth and Luna's eyes sparkled. The rest of the demigods winced, hoping the two daughters of Athena wouldn't start reciting the square metres of every building.

**- an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a****circular****arena**

Clarisse smirked.

"I kind of miss sword fighting," admitted Thalia. "I haven't got much time to practise lately."

"We can duel outside during the break," said Percy.

"We can have a tournament," said Pollux excitedly.

Jason snorted. "You lot don't stand a chance."

"We'll see," smirked Annabeth.

**- except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played****volleyball****. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of****cabins****nestled****in the woods****. **

"Demeter and Hermes," said all the demigods together.

Sirius laughed. "They still hate each other? Honestly, sometimes they're worse than the Hunters and Aphrodite."

"Oi!" exclaimed Travis, Connor, Chris, Katie, Thalia and Piper.

**Some shot targets at an archery range. **

Thalia smirked at Percy. "You can't beat me there," she said smugly.

Sirius allowed himself a sly look.

**Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

"They're called Pegasi," said Chris slowly, as if talking to a small child.

Clarisse stiffened, remembering Silena. Thalia placed a hand on her shoulder.

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big****watery eyes****, and****curly hair****so black it was almost purple. **

Every demigod in the Hall, bar Hannah, started laughing.

"Percy..." choked out Connor. "This... is priceless!"

"Yeah," laughed Travis. "Great description of the _Wine Dude_!"

Nico blushed faintly. "Shut up, Stoll."

Travis ruffled the younger boy's hair. "You know you love us, Death Breath."

**He looked like those paintings of baby angels - what do you call them, ****hubbubs****? **

"A hubbub is a noise," explained Andromeda. "I think you mean cherub."

"Yeah, that's it!" said Percy, grinning.

**No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. **

The demigods laughed again. Even Clarisse's bad mood vanished.

**He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.**

"Of course," said Hannah proudly. "He can out-gamble anyone!"

"That's hardly something to be proud of," scoffed Zacharias.

"Coming from the boy whose father's a thief," said Hannah.

"Enough!" said Snape.

**"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. **

Thalia snorted. "As if," she said.

"Oh, look who's talking!" retorted Percy.

**The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. **

"Technically," said Pollux. "At the time, there were several campers that had been there longer than her. Clarisse, Beckendorf, Silena, Castor and I..." his voice trailed off.

The demigods stayed silent, remembering their fallen friends.

**And you already know Chiron... ."**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting****in the wheelchair****. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly****beard****.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

"Grover _did _just say his name is Chiron," said Annabeth.

Percy shrugged.

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice****answers****B.**

"That's just cruel!" exclaimed Ron. "Why would you do that?"

Chiron's eyes twinkled. "I like that letter," he said as if it was the most obvious answer.

"Blimey," muttered Ron. "He's just like Dumbledore..."

**"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

"What's a peenowckle?" asked Arthur.

Dean's lip twitched. "I'll explain later, sir."

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to CampHalf-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

Chiron sighed. "I apologise on his behalf. I will speak to him again later. I'm afraid the last time did little good."

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an****adult****has been hitting the happy juice. **

"They go red and become irritable and violent?" said Harry.

Andromeda's eyes flashed. "Does your uncle drink a lot, Harry?" she asked in a forced calm voice.

Harry stiffened. "Not really," he lied.

**If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

"You wish you were this awesome," joked Grover.

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

Chris muttered something incoherent. Evelyn thought she made out the words "newcomers," "always our cabin," and "never claimed."

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. **

"Everyone looked more athletic than you," scoffed Clarisse. "You were a scrawny little –,"

Chris clapped a hand over her mouth.

**With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. **

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Percy laughed nervously.

**They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"I was," she said matter-of-factly.

**She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome! or something like that.**

"Keep dreaming," laughed Theodore.

"Honestly, Percy," chuckled Katie. "How thick were you?"

Sally frowned slightly.

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

"That's more like it," said Thalia, a cocky smirk on her face.

**Then she sprinted off down****the lawn****, her blond hair flying behind her.**

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex - Mr. Brunner said. **

"Ex-Mr Brunner," chuckled Chiron. "Very interesting, indeed, Percy."

Said boy blushed.

**"I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"**

"Dweeb, Dyke, Dumbo, the choice is yours," said Travis.

Molly and Sally both gave him stern looks.

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

"Unless you're Percy," said Annabeth.

**"Oh. Right. Sorry."**

"So what does it stand for?" asked George excitedly.

"Yeah," added Fred. "He didn't tell us!"

**"I must say,****Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, **

"His name," said Hannah exasperatedly, "is Chiron."

**"I'm glad to see you alive. **

"Isn't that nice of him?" mumbled Paul.

**It's been a long time since I've made a****house call****to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

**"House call?"**

**"My year at Yancy****Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."**

Jon looked up, mistrust in his eyes. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't harm him, child," Chiron assured him.

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

"So this Mist affects demigods as much as mortals?" said Remus.

"If they don't know they're demigods, then yes," said Sirius.

**"You came to Yancy just to****teach me****?" I asked.**

"No wonder he's got a big head," joked Blaise.

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp****Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the****first test****."**

"Which I failed," muttered Thalia bitterly.

Annabeth hugged her, burying her face in the older girl's neck. "I'm sorry, Thalia," she sniffed guiltily.

Thalia gently pushed Annabeth off. "It's not your fault, Annie. It was my own choice. Neither you, nor Grover or Luke were at fault. It was my own decision to do this and I do not want to hear you blame yourself."

Annabeth winced at Thalia's tone. It was the same stern, no-nonsense tone she always used to take when Annabeth tried to fight a monster alone or do something equally dangerous when they were on the run.

**"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"Because he can blast us into nothingness," said Leo.

"He's never done that to anyone," said Pollux. "Yet, anyway..."

**"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

**"I'm afraid not," I said.**

**"I'm afraid not, sir," he said.**

**"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp****director****less and less.**

"Don't worry," said Nico. "We all do."

"You seemed quite fond of him your first year," said Thalia, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Nico blushed.

**"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the****greatest games****ever invented by humans. **

"It's funny how gladiator fighting, Pac-Man and pinochle have absolutely nothing in common," said Paul.

**I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."**

**"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

**"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun - Chiron - why would you go to Yancy****Academy just to****teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

"How much longer until his punishment ends?" said Piper.

"More like our punishment," grumbled Annabeth.

**The camp****director****dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.**

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.**

The demigods smiled faintly. Chiron had so much faith in them. He was so unlike the mortal teachers, who belittled and mocked them for their dyslexia and their ADHD or demeaned them for the trouble they caused. He was patient and tolerant, no matter what happened.

**"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?****"**

"Apparently not enough," said Sally remorsefully.

**"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. **

Andromeda's eyes flashed with fury. "That's all he has to say?!"

Molly was mumbling words she would have punished her children very severely for uttering.

**Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation****film****won't be sufficient."**

"You didn't watch it?" said Nico. "Shame, it was lovely."

"You thought _everything _to do with 'mythology' was lovely then," said Thalia.

**"Orientation****film?" I asked.**

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know" - he pointed to****the horn****in the shoe box - "that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods - the forces you call the Greek gods - are very much alive."**

"Way to be blunt," said Charlie.

"Subtlety is not my strong point," admitted Chiron, chuckling slightly.

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But****all I got****was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

"Disappointing, eh?" said Tonks.

**"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your****Diet Coke****can?"**

"You have a _very _odd taste in food," said Helena.

"Tin cans are good for you," said Grover.

"Except we're not goats," said Leo.

**"Eh? Oh, all right."**

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty****aluminum****can and chewed it mournfully.**

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."**

"Gods, not God," corrected Sirius. "The difference is bigger than we can imagine."

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God -****capital****G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about - "**

"Gods," finished Pollux.

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

"Sir, I don't think they'll appreciate being called that," said Seamus.

Chiron smiled. "A little humility would do them good."

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

"Stop throwing the names around," huffed Annabeth.

**And there it was again - distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

**"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around,****if I were you****."**

"First and last time I agree with that pompous –,"

Luna quickly silenced Seamus by unsheathing a dagger.

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're - myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what****people believed before there was science."**

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson" - I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody **

"Still not as bad as Nymphadora," grumbled Tonks, sending a glare toward her mother.

Andromeda smiled. "It's a lovely name, dear."

**- "what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo****jumbo****. **

"That's one way to put it," said Paul.

**That's what. Oh, I love mortals - they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. **

Hermione glared. "Who does he think he is?!" she demanded. "Does he, the almighty superior _camp director_,think he's better than us? Has he any idea how far humans have come?!"

Chiron smiled forcedly. "He's seen it all, believe me. Mr D is more intelligent and perceptive than most believe of him."

The demigods, bar Pollux and Hannah, stared at him incredulously.

**And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

"We've gone farther than he thinks," said Annabeth quietly. "We've _literally _been to hell and back, we've won a war, travelled the world practically chasing death, we've survived the end of the world."

"Oh, goodie," said Harry drily. "Perhaps you can help us survive our end now, eh? Voldemort's killing by tens."

He had meant it as a joke, but was quite surprised when the half-bloods nodded solemnly.

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he wasn't. **

"Wait!" said Piper. "I think Percy's... _thinking_!"

Percy stuck his tongue out at her in a very mature fashion.

**It was enough to put a****lump****in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards,****chewing****his****soda****can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"Something you should try in front of the gods, Percy," said Annabeth.

A couple of demigods snorted.

"As if," said Thalia.

Sally turned to her son. "Percy, I understand you don't always agree with them or find their actions just, but arguing with them is far from smart."

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that****for a moment****, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

"Yes," said Percy. "And I don't like it _one bit_."

Thalia huffed. "You're just jealous," she said in a mock-superior tone.

Jon's eyes widened. "You're immortal?" he asked, bewildered.

"I'm fifteen, but I'm supposed to be twenty-two," said Thalia. "Yes, I'm immortal."

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty****good deal****, **

"Immortality isn't what it seems like," said Chiron wisely, regarding his young demigods. "It is fascinating and terrifying, interesting and heartbreaking. It's the best and worst thing that could ever happen to you. How would you feel, Thalia, if you remained fifteen when your fellow demigods continued their lives, when they grew and passed away?"

Thalia looked faintly green. "I can't leave Lady Artemis..."

Chiron shook his head. "I'm not asking you to."

**but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how****little boys****can get over losing their mothers?"**

"Oi!" cried Neville. "Why don't you shut the bloody hell up?" he yelled, feeling defensive for some reason.

It was just _low _to mock someone for being an orphan – he knew it well enough.

"Neville!" admonished Andromeda.

Neville paled slightly. He vaguely remembered a similar figure towering over his parents... a cruel laugh... a scream... a plea...

He shut his eyes tightly in an attempt to block out the memories. He felt a slender hand on his cheek and started. His eyes fluttered open and he saw the concerned face of Andromeda Tonks looking back at him. Neville forced himself to relax. This wasn't Bellatrix Lestrange, he told himself, no matter how much they looked alike. This was a good woman – she wouldn't hurt him.

"S-Sorry, madam," he stammered.

Andromeda's concerned gaze lingered upon him. "Are you well, Neville?"

Neville nodded. "Yes, madam."

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. **

"He does that to everyone," said Seamus dismissively.

"Not to me," said Thalia smugly.

"Only 'cause he's trying to get on your dad's good side," said Chris.

**I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

"Not a smart thing to say around a _god_," said Sirius. "I understand it was hard, Percy, but you really should have been more careful."

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

Hermione scowled. Gods _couldn't _exist! It was just as Percy had said – gods were silly explanations for seasons and lightning.

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

Remus sighed in relief. Grover was going to get Percy out of it.

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe."**

"No one believes in the beginning," said Travis, shrugging. "Except Nico," he added after a pause.

Nico grimaced, remembering what he had been like when he was younger.

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

McGonagall cleared her throat. "I wasn't aware he was permitted to do this."

"He wasn't," said Chiron.

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

Hannah and Pollux smirked at Sirius, who nodded at them. Sirius's goblet filled itself to the brim with wine. He nodded his thanks and winked, raising his goblet to them.

"Cheers," he said.

Pollux gave him a mock salute.

**"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder.**

"Doesn't it get annoying?" asked Ginny. "I mean, it's always thundering around you."

"It rarely thunders unless Percy, Thalia, Travis and Connor are there," said Annabeth. "They're the only ones who're stupid enough to anger the gods."

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of****Diet Coke****. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the****soda, and went back to his card game.**

"Poor man," said Tonks mirthfully.

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

"Probably because he wanted to shag her himself," whispered Thalia to Jason.

The son of Jupiter snorted.

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the****Diet Coke****can like it was from outer space.**

"A wood nymph," answered Zacharias slowly.

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time - well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away - the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. **

"This name is so prejudiced!" said Hermione. "Why does it matter if they're half-bloods or not?" she demanded.

"That's not quite what they mean, dear," said Andromeda gently.

Molly stared at the book, deep in thought. It was all starting to make sense. Those poor children... Merlin, what could she do for them?

**Summer camp for brats like you. **

"That man," sighed McGonagall.

**'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' **

"If only he could take his own advice," grumbled Nico. "How many times has he tried to kill us?"

**Ha.' Absolutely unfair."**

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

The demigods started snickering. Even Snape managed a smile.

**"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."**

"Dear Merlin, Percy!" cried Dean. "You should know that!"

McGonagall looked disapprovingly at Chiron. "Did you teach him nothing?" she asked.

**"Di immortales, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. **

"How many are there?" asked Tonks.

"Plenty," replied Luna.

**Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

Grover cringed at the term 'master'. It made him feel as if he were some sort of slave.

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

"You needn't be so afraid of him," said Molly gently. "I'm sure Chiron would never let him lay a hand on you."

"I most definitely would not let him touch any satyr, demigod or Huntress," said Chiron. "But sometimes it is completely out of my power to stop him."

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

"Oi!" yelled Piper. "That's offensive!"

Jason and Leo snickered.

**"You're a god."**

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" said Snape.

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

At this, everyone laughed. Paul shook his head fondly.

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw****visions****of****grape vines****choking unbelievers to****death****, **

"Right," said Ron. "I think I believe in gods now."

**drunken warriors insane with battle lust, **

"Like Olan Thorne," said Sirius.

"Who?" asked Remus.

"Son of Ares," replied Sirius. "When I was at camp, there was a major battle at Edinburgh Castle. Thorne led us to victory, but at the cost of many lives on both sides. He destroyed half of the enemy army himself, slitting others' throats and dismembering them without a second thought. It was one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen."

A couple of people shuddered.

**sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into****dolphin****snouts. **

"He always threatens to turn is into dolphins," complained Jake.

**I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"He could do that," said Ted, having studied mythology after that beast had attacked Sirius in front of his very eyes. "And he could do worse. He could make you scream in agony the entire day. He could make you never close your eyes again, afraid of the sickness that was spreading through you. He could make you cry and scream and torture yourself, trying in vain to end your own life. He could turn you paranoid, cynical, a true mess."

**"Would you like to test****me, child?" he said quietly.**

"Not anymore," mumbled Piper, still shuddering from what Ted had said.

**"No. No, sir."**

"Smart boy," whispered Paul.

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his****card game****. "I believe I win."**

"As if," said Thalia. "Chiron always wins."

Chiron smiled at the smugness in her voice. His demigods had always been interesting and he loved them, but Big Three children had always been more intriguing.

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me.****"**

"Always," said Pollux with a wicked grin. "Dad never wins."

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his****wheelchair****, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. **

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along****tonight****. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

"Like you care who survives and who doesn't," sneered Thalia. "Leave him alone!"

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

"Did he hurt you?" asked Arthur gently.

Grover shook his head. "Just threatened me a bit..."

**Mr. D turned to me. "****Cabin****eleven,****Percy Jackson****. And mind your manners."**

"That's going to happen," said Annabeth sarcastically.

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. **

"He's rarely mad at his satyrs," said Chiron. "He only pretends to be tough..."

**He just hates his job. He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

"That's punishing the campers more!" said Ron.

**"Mount****Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

"Obviously, Jackson," said Snape, although there was little venom in his voice.

Despite his snide comments toward Grover, he was quite fond of the campers.

**"Well now, there's Mount****Olympus****in Greece****. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount****Olympus. It's still called Mount****Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in America?"**

"They move with the heart of the West," said Annabeth. "From Greece to Rome and so on..."

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the****heart of the****West."**

Annabeth grinned proudly.

**"The what?"**

**"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. **

"So the West... is alive?" asked Charlie, his brow furrowed.

"In a way," said Sally.

**A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. **

"Which was the entire point of the war," said Thalia.

"The enemies... wanted to destroy Western civilisation so the gods would fade?" asked Harry uncertainly.

"That's it," said Thalia.

**The fire started****in Greece. Then, as you well know - or as I hope you know, since you passed my course - the****heart of the****fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps - Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on - but the same forces, the same gods."**

"Makes sense," said Susan. "Odd, but it does make sense."

**"And then they died."**

"Really?" said Annabeth. "You just went through this entire conversation and you – argh!"

"That comment was just _lovely_," said Hannah.

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to****Germany****, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. **

"Which is how modern wizards were conceived," said McGonagall.

"What?" said Hermione.

"Have you never wondered why we're so different from ancient magicians?" asked Sirius. "Magic always existed, since the time of the gods – Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft, necromancy, crossroads, sorcery, magic, the moon and fire, among other things. She blessed a few chosen mortals with her gift, which ran strong in mortals' blood until about Merlin's time. Then the power started to fade and those chosen mortals had to begin using wands to channel their magic. To renew this gift, Hecate blessed another 'group' of mortals during her centuries in England."

Hermione, along with other students, looked dazed.

**All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller****Center, the Greek facades of your****government buildings****in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like****it or not****- and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either - America is now theheart of the****flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

"This is..." Tonks remained speechless.

"Unbelievable?" breathed Ginny, eyes wide.

Susan and Justin stared at each other in bewilderment. Hermione's jaw dropped.

**It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.**

"Most people see us as a gang, but club works too," joked Connor.

"That's only because you travelled throughout the country shoplifting and pickpocketing," said Annabeth sternly.

Travis clenched his jaw at the stern looks he was receiving. "What?" he yelled. "Wouldn't you do the same if your loved ones were starving? Would you let them go hungry, just for the sake of being _just _and _honourable_?! I don't think so!"

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"**

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Dramatic, much?" she asked.

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his****wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

Chiron smiled broadly.

"He did say his name was Chiron," said Luna. "Didn't you guess that he was a centaur?"

"I had other things to worry about," said Percy.

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in****cabin****eleven. There will be new friends to meet. **

"Like us," grinned Travis and Connor.

**And plenty of****time for****lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire****tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

Remus adopted a dreamy look, much to Tonks and Sirius's amusement.

Before Bill could continue the chapter, a black light flashed and went out immediately, not like the way the white light had stayed and faded slowly into the walls of Hogwarts.

"What's goi –,"

The stone walls of the Great Hall were no longer there. The entire room was replaced by an unending hill and a castle in the distance.

"Where are we?" whispered Dennis.

"Quiet!" said Remus. "This looks like a Pensieve."

"I didn't see a Pensieve anywhere," grumbled Theodore.

"Silence, Nott!" commanded Snape.

"Edinburgh, 1972," said Sirius grimly.

"Lovely," muttered Andromeda. "Now we can see how you and James almost got killed again."

The images in the 'Pensieve' started becoming clearer. A group of youth aged ten to twenty were standing in battle formation, swords and spears and bows in their hands.

"_Hermes," yelled a boy about seventeen years old, tall and muscular, coarse brown hair falling out of his helm. "Go East with Dionysus." _

"That's Olan Thorne," said Sirius.

_A group of armed half-bloods swiftly made their way to the east side, trying in vain to defeat the hordes of monsters. _

"_There's no time, Thorne!" roared thirteen-year-old Sirius. "Give me Cabin Five. James, Severus, Narcissa, with me! Olan – take Six and Nine! Boyd – call the Hunters!" _

"_What do we do?" asked a boy from Cabin Four. _

"_Hold the defences," ordered Thorne. _

"Just to clear it up," said Sirius as the memory 'waited' for him to speak, "I've got One, Five and two unclaimed campers and Olan's got everyone else, except Four, who're holding the defences, Eleven and Twelve, who've gone East on Thorne's orders."

A couple of newer campers nodded in understanding; the rest had understood the commands. The wizards looked at each other in confusion.

The memory followed Sirius's path. He ran with a sword in his hand.

"He must be the only Cabin Seven member who wields a sword," muttered Jake to himself.

"_FOR OLYMPUS!" roared Sirius and charged toward the army of monsters, one against tens. _

"_Narcissa, cover him!" said James. "Severus – we'll take the Giants! Come on! Summon your army or something! We need reinforcements!"_

_James attacked the Giant before him, summoning all the electricity he could. The Giant sidestepped the attack and lunged at James. The boy ducked. He jabbed his sword in the Giant's stomach. __The __Giant__ stumbled back, giving James a great advantage. He pounced on __t__he Giant and made to __hit__ him with a newly-created __sphere of electricity__. The Giant cackled and blasted James into the nearest wall. James heard a crunching noise. He realised, with a jolt, that it was his wrist breaking. He pointed his __sword__ at the enemy and a wave of __wind currents__ crashed onto __t__he Giant. The man roared in fury and bounded toward James. He threw his club at the boy. James ducked and the __club__ flew past his head, lodging itself in the __ground__. James rolled toward him and hit his thigh with t__he sword__. The man struck James, unaffected by the blow. Drained, James tried to summon his remaining __powers__. Electricity shot out of the staff and shocked The Giant. __It__ exploded into pieces. James fell against the wall, unable to move._

_Severus__ was fighting a similar battle with __another__ Giant. As __t__he Giant was advancing toward him, __Severus__ had his eyes on his friend, who was unmoving in a corner. He turned just in time to parry a blow from the flat of __its club__. Their weapons clashed with a deafening clang and ground against each other. __Severus__ tried to spin the sword away from his body. He twisted his blade until __t__he Giant grunted in pain. Despite his obvious pain, the __creature__ didn't drop his weapon. He stomped to the side and lunged at __Severus__, slicing and striking at him__ with surprising grace__. __Severus__ dodged and parried the attacks, but the last one hit his upper arm.__ Severus__ screamed in agony. Blood flowed freely from his arm. Gritting his teeth, the boy pressed on. He pounced on __t__he Giant and they both fell to the ground. The Giant blasted him metres into the air. __Severus__ willed __a newly summoned skeleton__ to break his fall. He fell on th__e ground__. __Severus__ stood on the __hill__ and fired __wandless __curses at __t__he Giant. The man dodged, ducked and rolled to the sides__, tripping over himself__. __Severus opened a crack in the ground with his powers and the Giant fell into it. _

The memory faded, the images of young Severus, James and Sirius disappearing.

"That was..."

"Terrifying," finished Susan, shuddering.

Terry Boot nodded in agreement.

"I say we continue our story," said Sirius forcefully.

Harry stared at him in wonder.

Snape glared at Bill. "Continue, Weasley," he barked.

Perfect. Just perfect. His abilities had been discovered, his reputation had been ruined and everyone thought he was some demon sent from the very depths of hell.

**And then he did rise from his****wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt.****At first****, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, **

A couple of people stared at Percy funnily.

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear****wasn't underwear; **

"Congrats," muttered Leo, still shocked from what he had seen.

**it was the front of an animal,****muscle****and sinew under coarse white fur. And the****wheelchair****wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. **

"What magic do you use, sir?" asked Hermione.

"That, I cannot tell you," said Chiron. "I promised the gods I wouldn't."

**A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

"Sounds a bit creepy," said Ginny.

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the****wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other****campers****."**

"That's the end," said Bill.

"Good," said Sirius. "I need the campers to come with me. We need to speak about what you just witnessed."


	6. The Immortal

Taeianea – Thanks, glad you liked it

Guest – I... didn't bash him?

Ro781727 – True, true... A little humility wouldn't be bad.

Percyjacksonfan135 – I'm glad you do.

_Thanks a lot to Ro781727 for giving me ideas for this chapter and helping me with the story!_

Chapter Six: The Immortal

"Well," said Sirius, once they had reached an empty classroom, "how much have you been told about this?"

They all shrugged. "We never even knew it had happened," admitted Pollux.

Sirius frowned slightly. "No one told you?"

He sighed at the curious looks. "Well, I suppose the job falls to me. You see, back in 1972, we had a small... problem on our hands. Kronos was not yet powerful enough to rise, but that didn't stop him from sending his troops. But why to Edinburgh you ask? Because that was where all of the Elder Three children were – Severus Snape, James Potter and an anonymous person I have sworn to never speak of. We were Kronos's biggest threat, just like you –," he pointed at Nico, Percy and Thalia, "are now."

"And they had magic," realised Annabeth. "So they were even more powerful."

"But Piper, Leo, Annabeth," began Chris,

"Are very powerful," said Sirius, "but not Elder Three descendants. Have you seen Thalia and Jason summon wind currents or lightning? They can kill you with a single touch. Have you seen Nico summon the dead? Have you seen his armies? Have you seen Percy's abilities?"

"Leo's a fire user," blurted out Connor.

"Two in one generation," said Sirius, smiling. "I'm impressed."

"Two, sir?" said Annabeth.

"Seamus Finnigan," said Sirius. "Anyway... I think I'll let Chiron tell you the rest. Perhaps he can tell you who Poseidon's child was... He... attended this school. Fought with us for years..."

Sirius sighed heavily. "Well, let's get going..."

He ran into the Great Hall. Now was his chance to talk to Harry.

"Harry," he said, placing a hand on his godson's shoulder.

Harry started and turned to look at him.

"Harry, I need to speak to you."

"Am I in trouble?" he asked in a low tone.

Sirius shook his head. "I only want to speak to you about your... home at Privet Drive."

Harry suddenly adopted a panicked look. "W-What?

He backed away, shaking his head, and bumped into Snape.

The Potions Master placed a hand on his shoulder, much to everyone's surprise. "Do you want me to come with you?" he whispered.

Harry nodded nervously. "Y-Yes, s-sir, please..."

_Eleven-year-old Harry Potter doubled over, emptying the contents of his stomach. He was so nervous... Professor Snape seemed to really hate him. And his class started in just ten minutes! Sometimes the Potions Master gave him the same look Uncle Vernon did. It was scary. Harry glanced at Ron, who handed him a glass of water to soothe the burn in his throat._

"_It's alright, mate, I know Snape's a git, but you don't have to be so scared. I mean, it's not like a professor can hurt you." _

_Harry shakily accepted the glass. "I know," he mumbled ashamedly, but just then, he felt a slender hand on his shoulder. Harry froze, while Ron warily turned around to see the Potions Master himself. _

"_Mr Weasley," said Snape coolly, "Go back to your dormitory. I wish to speak with Mr Potter." _

_Harry swallowed audibly. Ron wanted to run out of the bathroom and forget that Snape had heard him. But instead he stayed. _

"_I'm not leaving Harry," he said stubbornly. _

"_Now, Weasley," was the icy response. _

_And that's when Ron fled, leaving Harry alone with the hated 'dungeon bat'. Snape quickly led Harry to the dungeons without a second glance at him. _

_Merlin, what James and Lily would think of him now! Their own son was getting sick because of him! _

"_Mr Potter," he said, softly closing the door behind the small boy. "Care to explain?" _

Harry had somehow spilled everything about Vernon's mistreatment that day. Snape had been surprisingly kind; he had listened to Harry and given him potions for his health. Snape hadn't been able to remove Harry from Privet Drive due to his role as a spy, but he had often spoken to the young child in private.

Snape still had a reputation to maintain. The entire school thought he and James Potter had hated each other. So he had kept up his mask in public, humiliating the young Gryffindor the entire day, but spending his evenings consoling Harry. Harry, in turn, had also maintained his reputation, talking back to and insulting his professor during classes.

Remus led Sirius, Harry and Snape outside. He conjured a couple of chairs and sat down on one of them. Snape kept his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry," said Sirius. "Anything you'd like to say about your relatives?"

"There's nothing to say about them," said Harry.

It came out harsher than he had meant. He cowered into Snape, bracing himself for a possible explosion. Nothing happened.

Remus smiled gently and leaned forward. "You're never going to see them again, Harry. This summer, you're going to this camp until sixth year begins."

Harry looked at Snape uncertainly. "Should I..." his voice trailed off.

Snape lifted his hand from Harry's shoulder and placed it on the boy's messy hair. "The choice is entirely yours. If you do not wish to speak about it, they will respect your choice. If they fail to do so, sever consequences will follow."

He glared at the two men for additional effect.

Harry looked up at his professor. He remembered his third year and how he had disappointed Lupin during the incident with the Marauders' Map. He didn't think he wanted to tell them yet. He didn't know if he trusted them.

"Can I... Uh, do it some other time?"

Sirius looked disappointed, but quickly covered it up with a gentle, reassuring smile. "Of course, Harry, whenever you're ready."

"Let's get back, shall we?" said Snape. "The rest will want to continue. I'm not sure I want to finish this book."

And so they re-entered the Great Hall.

"Lovely, we're all here," said Sprout. "Let's continue, shall we?"

"I'll do this one," said Remus. **"Chapter Six: I become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom" **

Leo chuckled. "I wish I had a title like that!"

"Why?" asked Jason. "Repair Boy isn't good enough?"

Leo huffed. "I won't dignify this with an answer."

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, **

"It's always a bit of a shock for everyone," said Chiron mildly.

"I can imagine," whispered Helena to Evelyn.

**we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. **

Chiron turned to look at Percy.

The young boy blushed. "Sorry..."

**I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

Chiron and Annabeth resisted the urge to roll their eyes.

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."**

Percy smiled smugly.

The rest of the campers rolled their eyes.

"Not a word, Prissy," growled Clarisse.

**Most of the campers were older than me. **

"What was I supposed to say when I got there?" said Annabeth.

Travis grinned. "Everyone loved Annie. Especially Katie and Silena..."

**Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMPHALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. **

"Understandable, if Clarisse was staring at you," said Connor.

Clarisse looked smug.

"Yeah, who'd want to see that?" chuckled Travis.

Clarisse expression turned murderous. Sally frowned at the two brothers.

"Boys!"

**I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized - four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

"What is it?" asked Jon, eyes wide.

**"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

Nico shrugged. "Just a rotting corpse my father cursed during World War II."

A couple of people looked sick.

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

**"Somebody lives there?" **

**"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

"Clever," grinned Fred.

"Thank you, my boy," said Chiron amusedly.

**I got the feeling he was being truthful. **

"Chiron never lies," said Annabeth quietly.

**But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.**

"It can't have moved," said Hermione. "It's a corpse."

Thalia snorted. "It moved for Zoe..."

**"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

"Can you do that, Grover?" asked an awed Colin.

Grover smiled. "I can now."

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount****Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

"Isn't that child labour?" asked Paul.

Katie shrugged. "We want to do it."

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

Pollux shrugged. "Close enough, I think."

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. **

"Amazing," muttered Helena. "And he does that with just music..."

**I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. **

"I couldn't, back then," said Grover.

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

"Yes," he confirmed. "I was."

**"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."**

Snape frowned slightly, but stayed silent when Harry and Theodore sent him pleading looks.

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. **

"I reached my goal," whispered Grover. "I did it. I was the first one."

Chiron smiled proudly.

**To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

**"But he did that!"**

"Not very well," muttered Ginny to herself.

Evelyn had to agree with Ginny.

**"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. **

"Bunch of fat goats," grumbled Percy.

Jon snickered slightly.

**I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. **

Jon noticed how Chiron was avoiding the word 'death'.

**And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

Grover sighed softly.

"He was young," defended Thalia. "Besides, Percy abandoned him in New York."

Percy blushed again.

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not****have gotten in trouble.**

"True," said Nico and, surprisingly, Neville.

**"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

Thalia rubbed the back of her neck.

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. **

"It had really been seven years," whispered Thalia. "I lost seven years. I didn't get to see Annie and Luke become warriors. I didn't see Annie become councilor. Maybe I could have stopped Luke's betrayal..."

**Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age... ."**

**"How old is he?"**

"Thirty-five," said Grover.

A couple of people gaped at him.

"But you look like you're, like, twenty!" said Tonks.

"The book will explain," said Percy.

**"Oh, twenty-eight."**

Evelyn's jaw dropped.

**"What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

**"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. **

"Ah," said Tonks. "Now I get it."

"That must be unpleasant," said Helena.

**Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

"That's terrible," said Ron, Harry and Ginny.

Fred, George, Thalia, Jason, Leo and Tonks nodded in agreement.

**"That's horrible."**

**"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. **

"You were really bad, mate," said Ernie.

Grover rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Ernie..."

**Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career... ."**

**"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

"Yes!" exclaimed all the campers bar Thalia.

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"Nice change of subject," muttered Charlie drily.

Bill snickered.

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. **

Jon smiled at his observation.

"I knew what was going on," he admitted.

"You could have told us," grumbled Percy.

**The beginnings of an idea - a tiny, hopeful fire - started forming in my mind.**

"Oh, no," groaned Thalia and Nico.

**"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."**

**"Yes, child?"**

**"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"**

Nico and Snape shot him exasperated looks.

"Where else would the dead go?" asked Nico.

Percy shrugged.

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

**"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"Percy," said Sirius in a controlled voice, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Please tell me you have more sense than to do this."

"Percy has no sense," said Annabeth bluntly. "That's just that."

Sally sighed. He had been so young...

**"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

"He means you should keep your sorry demigod arse out of the Underworld!" snapped Nico.

Evelyn snickered at Percy's affronted expression. Percy glanced at her.

"I'm glad this amuses you!" he said with mock indignity.

**"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

"Nice change of subject."

This time, it was Bill who whispered it to his brother.

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. **

"Careful, it's stocked," said McGonagall.

"Stocked with what?" asked Ron.

Ginny cuffed him. "Monsters, you idiot."

**It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

Paul chuckled. "That's a bit much, don't you think?"

Percy shrugged. "You haven't seen it."

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

**"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

"Monsters and weapons respectively," said Luna promptly.

"I know that _now_!"

**"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night.**

"Yes!" exclaimed Sirius. "Cabin Seven won, right?"

"Can't say," said Ernie.

"I'm getting the feeling your Capture the Flag is a bit... unusual," said Tonks.

The demigods grinned.

"The entire forest's fair game; just don't kill anyone," said Chris.

"Just don't _kill _anyone?" repeated Tonks.

**Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

"Did you expect him to?" asked Snape, a funny expression on his face.

**"My own - ?"**

**"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

"Size five?" snorted Sirius. "Probably too big for him."

"It was," confirmed Percy.

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), **

"I wonder why," said Remus drily.

**the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

"Technically, it was where Luke, Annabeth, Clarisse, Percy and occasionally Thalia would completely humiliate us and sword and spear fights," said Jake forlornly.

"We never got to do that tournament we were talking about," realised Thalia.

"Next break," promised Percy.

"Can we join?" asked Evelyn.

"Sure," said Percy. "What weapon do you use?"

"Knives," she said. "There's not much else you can find on the streets. Corner stores don't usually sell swords."

**"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

**"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. **

"Usually," said Madam Pomfrey faintly.

Molly looked shocked. She understood why the children needed to defend themselves, but the idea of them owning such weapons frightened her. They could kill each other!

**Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

"What happens if it rains?" asked George, blinking.

"It doesn't rain," said Thalia.

George blinked again.

**"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" **

"You could have just told him it doesn't rain there," said McGonagall.

Chiron smiled slightly.

**I decided to drop the subject.**

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, **

"There are about twenty-five now and we're still building," said Hannah proudly.

Zacharias grinned. "Yeah, we can actually see the floor in Cabin Eleven now."

**nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

"They're beautiful," said Piper.

"I never said they weren't," said Percy.

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. **

"Yeah, Cabin Seven's ugly as –," began Leo, but Sirius cut him off.

"Cabin Seven's the best," he said. "Have you seen Five?"

**Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. **

Leo, Jake and Seamus grinned brightly. Seamus and Leo accidently lit their fingertips, making a couple of wizards jump.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" roared Moody.

Tonks jumped and stared funnily at him. "I thought he had left," she said quietly, rubbing the back of her neck.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. **

Katie smiled fondly, but her smile faded as quickly as it had come.

"It was beautiful," she said, "Before _someone _had ruined the grass with their stupid chocolate!"

Remus looked affronted at Katie's choice of adjective for the chocolate.

**Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. **

"See?" grinned Sirius. "It's perfect!"

Remus gagged. "Only you would think that."

"Hear, hear," said Ted.

Andromeda just shook her head.

**They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. **

"That's where we burn campers," said Clarisse seriously.

The first and second year wizards nearly burst into tears.

Clarisse laughed. "I'm joking!" she said, amused by Molly and Sally's glares.

**Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

As if on cue, the same girl, maybe a couple of years older, appeared in a flash of light, right in the centre of the Great Hall.

The demigods immediately rose from their seats and knelt. After the war, everyone had learnt of Hestia's favourite form.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Why were they kneeling in front of a little girl?

The girl stood up. "Rise," she said.

The demigods stood up.

"Lady Hestia," said Nico respectfully, "it's an honour as always. If we may ask, what brings you here?"

"Hello, Nico," said Hestia warmly.

She greeted the rest of the half-bloods in turn. "I heard you were... learning of Percy's adventures?"

Sirius inclined her head. "Yes, my lady. Care to join us?"

Hestia smiled. She took a seat next to Nico. She knew the effect she had on the young demigod. Showing affection made him a little warmer, a little more open, a little more hopeful. Maybe one day, the son of Hades would be well again...

"Should I continue?" Remus asked Sirius.

His friend nodded.

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. **

Thalia and Jason smiled smugly.

**Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across****them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, **

Every underage demigod, without any exceptions, gagged at the mention.

"Cow," said Annabeth.

Hestia smiled sadly. How her family was being torn apart...

**with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

"I'm sure Malfoy Sr. would love that, eh?" snickered Theodore to Blaise.

Blaise laughed silently.

**"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

**"Correct," Chiron said.**

**"Their cabins look empty."**

"They wouldn't be, had father not turned me into a bloody tree," muttered Thalia to herself.

**"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

"We do," said Thalia and Jason.

"We know," said Zacharias, rolling his eyes.

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. **

"We are _not_ mascots," said Hestia, slightly offended.

Percy blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

"Because some of them don't have children," said Nico, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

"Naturally," said Annabeth.

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway **

"Don't!" cried Piper.

"Relax," said Percy. "He wouldn't blast me."

**and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

"Good," breathed Remus. "I've a bad feeling about this."

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. **

"Of course not," said Nico bitterly. "Just because their children made mistakes and lost control of their powers decades ago, we are paying the price now. We fight their battles, win their wars, save their thrones time after time and they're still debating over whether they should kill us or not."

"Olympian justice," laughed Thalia humourlessly. "If you fight for them and survive, they'll probably kill you because of your parentage, if you don't fight for them, they'll kill you for disloyalty."

Percy put his arm around Nico's shoulders.

**The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.**

The sons of Hermes sighed heavily.

**Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. **

"We couldn't convince them to use brushes," said Annabeth delicately.

Clarisse only shrugged.

**The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. **

Grover and Katie scowled.

"That's just creepy," said Angelina.

**Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. **

"Camp's never boring with them," said Chris.

**The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. **

Clarisse smiled proudly.

**She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. **

"Oi!" cried Hannah. "He hasn't done anything to you!"

**She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, **

"She can be really gentle at times," said Annabeth, smiling slightly.

Jon doubted that.

**and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

Travis and Connor grinned. "We love those..."

**"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. **

"They're not barbaric," defended Sirius, "just drunk."

"Permanently," added Pollux.

**You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

**"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."**

"It took you that long?" said Jason.

**He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

**"But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

"Percy!" scolded Sally. "You don't ask people that!"

"Sorry, mum," said Percy.

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. **

"It is a rather interesting question," said Chiron.

**"I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

"Always," whispered Thalia to Piper. "He's the best trainer ever."

Chiron smiled, having heard Thalia's comment.

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

Paul and Ted chuckled.

**"Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

"It must be interesting, sir," said Jon softly. "Seeing the times change, turning people into heroes, seeing empires rise and fall, wars, revolutions, new technology and discoveries..."

"It certainly is fascinating," agreed Chiron.

**"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

**"Why depressing?"**

Percy sighed as a couple of people shot him looks.

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

**"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

Travis and Connor opened their moths, but Annabeth unsheathed her dagger, silencing them.

**The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.**

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

"Actually, I was thinking you were weak and scrawny," she joked.

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. **

Paul snorted, while Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

"It _was_ an architecture book."

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. **

The Hermes boys frowned.

"Well, everyone passes by the Hermes cabin," defended Zacharias.

**The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ? **

"A caduceus," said the Hermes brothers and Annabeth, the former rather indignantly.

**A caduceus.**

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds.****Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. **

"Stolen," chorused Travis and Connor.

Molly and Andromeda shot them stern looks.

**It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.**

"It does, doesn't it?" mused Chris.

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

Hestia nodded approvingly. She had great respect for Chiron.

**"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. **

"Obviously," said Clarisse.

**They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

**"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. **

A couple of people snickered.

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

"It's hard at first, we know," said Travis. "Even we wouldn't make fun of you for it."

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.**

**"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

"Some things don't change," said Sirius. "I was there for about a fortnight until I was claimed."

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

The Hermes boys blushed.

"Sorry," said Chris. "It's just..."

"I understand," said Percy.

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

"He seems nice," said Jon.

"He was," said Thalia. "He was so good with everybody..." She took a deep, rattling breath. "I just wish... I wish they all could get a second chance... Just come back for a while, one last time..."

Hestia gently placed her arms around the daughter of Zeus.

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. **

"He was awesome," said Zacharias with a smirk.

He could feel himself slowly healing from his brother's death. It no longer hurt to speak about him. He was proud of Luke.

**He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. **

The senior campers looked down at their necklaces. There were so many stories to tell about those beads, some of them more pleasant than others...

**The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

"Dragon claw slash," corrected Annabeth.

Molly turned to look at Charlie, seeming shocked and terrified.

"Mum – I'm fine," laughed her second son.

"Quest?" asked Sirius.

Annabeth nodded distractedly, staring at her second bead.

**"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow.**

"Someone had a little –,"

"Be silent, Travis Stoll, or I will stab you with a blunt knife."

Travis paled and swallowed painfully.

**I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. **

"I was not," she protested feebly.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."**

**"For now?" I asked.**

"Until you're thrown into some other cabin," said Chris helpfully. "Which I never did... Still stayed there, claimed or not..."

**"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."**

"Yes," agreed Seamus. "And they never get claimed. They just stay there, wondering who their parents are. Some of them _die _to impress a parent that doesn't care about them!" His voice had risen to a shout. "There were campers that were only claimed on their fourth or fifth or even sixth years when their parents needed them to do their dirty work for them."

Pollux nodded sullenly. "Amy Belle, Cassandra Dole, James Peterson, Frank Barrow, Tommy Johnson, Annabelle Brown, Dennis James..."

"And those are just the ones who died before you got to camp," Dean told Percy hollowly.

Sally quickly masked the horrified look on her face.

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.**

"We wouldn't steal that," said Connor, sounding genuinely offended. \

Percy looked guilty for a moment.

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, **

"Those would be the regulars," said Sirius, winking at the Hermes boys.

**some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"We were," said Ernie.

Percy frowned. "I didn't see you there that year."

"I was given the month off to visit my mum; Chiron knew about Hogwarts and everything."

**"How long will I be here?" I asked.**

Thalia shrugged. "A day, a fortnight, a year, half a decade... All depends on who your parent is..."

Hestia frowned almost guiltily. They had no idea how much the gods really loved them. And the gods, in their turn, had no idea how much the half-bloods resented them for their carelessness.

**"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

**"How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

"You shouldn't laugh," scolded Andromeda. "The poor boy was probably confused enough as it was."

"Sorry," said Chris ashamedly.

He hated disappointing people, even if he barely knew them. It was his fatal flaw – trying to please everyone. That's why he had joined Kronos. Luke had been his favourite half-brother; Chris wanted to make him proud by joining him.

**"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

**"I've already seen it."**

A couple of people, namely Ginny, groaned.

"Really, Percy?" she said. "She's trying to spare you the humiliation."

Percy shrugged.

**"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

"You were never gentle with the new campers," noted Nico, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"And if they really had been so gentle with her when she was younger..." muttered Jon.

**"What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

"The one, eh?" said Jake with a wink.

"Shut up, Mason," said Annabeth.

**"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy - "**

"Oh, Percy," sighed Sally to herself.

**"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

"To end up in the infirmary?" asked Ron incredulously.

**"To get killed?"**

Ron shrugged. "Great minds think alike."

**"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

"Oh, I don't know," said Thalia drily, "how about not to get turned into a Zeus forsaken tree like me? Or maybe so you don't take an early trip to Elysium. Or maybe so you –,"

"That's enough, dear," said Molly, shivering slightly.

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."**

**"Yes."**

**"Then there's only one."**

**"Yes."**

**"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."**

"Monsters don't die," chorused the demigods.

Jon's eyes widened comically.

"S-So you kill them again and again and they can't die?" said Evelyn.

"It's not exactly like that," said McGonagall. "You'll see; Ms Chase will probably explain."

**"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"That clears everything up," said Helena.

"She didn't explain it very well," grumbled a ruffled Evelyn.

"They sort of disappear like Alecto and the Minotaur, but since they don't have souls, they reform and come back. That's why we haven't been branded as 'murderers'," said Nico.

**"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

A few people chuckled.

**"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."**

Tonks shuddered. "That's terrible."

"It is," agreed Piper.

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword - "**

"That sounds so wrong," commented Paul. "I accidentally killed someone with a sword..."

Fred and George snickered. "Oops," they said in unison, their eyes mirthful.

**"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

"How –,"

"Let me finish," said Remus.

**"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

**"You talk in your sleep."**

"Ah," said Harry. "That's how."

**"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

"Torturers, assistants, it's pretty much the same for Father," said Nico with a shrug.

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. **

"Would you relax?!" cried Thalia. "Gods, when did you become so paranoid?"

**"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

"Which we avoid," said Jason. "Monsters aren't a very pleasant subject to talk about."

**"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together?****There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

The demigods snorted.

"That question was stupid and you know it," said Thalia.

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"You're going to be waiting a long time," joked Piper.

Percy huffed, while Leo and Jason laughed with Piper.

**"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

"That's not quite what she meant," said Ted kindly.

Percy blushed. "I know that now..."

**"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

**"He's dead. I never knew him."**

The demigods wisely remained silent.

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. **

"Annabeth, if this job is becoming too much for you –,"

"I'm alright, Chiron. It's not unpleasant, really. Just a bit frustrating at times."

**"Your father's not dead, Percy."**

**"How can you say that? You know him?"**

"Doesn't that sound familiar?" chuckled Sirius, referring to the incident with Grover at Montauk.

**"No, of course not."**

**"Then how can you say - "**

**"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

**"You don't know anything about me."**

Evelyn snorted. "She seems to know more about you than you do."

"I was upset and confused," said Percy defensively.

**"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

"It's a good thing people like Sirius didn't attend school before Hogwarts," said Andromeda. "He wouldn't have lasted more than two months with the trouble he attracted. And not just with monsters..."

**"How - "**

**"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

Jon closed his eyes. His mother had told him he had ADHD. But that didn't mean anything, right?

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment. **

"Don't be embarrassed," said Andromeda lightly.

**"What does that have to do with anything?"**

**"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? **

Jon shut his eyes tighter and shook his head.

"Are you alright?" asked Helena, slinging an arm around him.

Jon nodded uncomfortably.

**That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD - you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

Jon tried to convince himself that there was nothing wrong with him. After all, Evelyn had been diagnosed with dyslexia, but... Could it possibly be?

**"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"**

"All of us did," said Luna.

**"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

"Your blood would have burned up," said Grover, shuddering.

**"Ambrosia and nectar."**

**"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand **

"Have you tried that with mortals?" asked Helena, looking very disturbed.

"No," said Chiron. "But unfortunately, we weren't fast enough to stop them, either..."

**and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. **

Ginny sneered slightly. She _really_ didn't like Clarisse.

**She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

**"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

"Fat chance of that happening," said Annabeth. "You haven't beaten me since I was nine."

**''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' **

"Not very offensive, is it?" laughed Tonks.

"It's worse than it sounds," said Sally.

**though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."**

**"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. **

The Hermes boys smirked. That game hadn't gone well for the Ares Cabin...

**Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

Sally felt her eye twitch with irritation. Hestia shook her head disappointedly at Clarisse.

**"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"**

"No, like the beauty god," said Seamus.

Clarisse and Piper glared at him.

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

**"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

"Percy," warned Sally.

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

"Don't dare," said Snape icily.

**"Percy."**

**"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

**"Clarisse - " Annabeth tried to say.**

**"Stay out of it, wise girl."**

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, **

"He had to fight his own battles," said Annabeth at the questioning looks.

**and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, **

Chris and Theodore snorted.

**but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

Paul narrowed his eyes. "I don't think that was a smart move, Clarisse."

"I noticed," said Clarisse irritably.

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. **

Clarisse avoided Sally's eye. It wasn't her fault! Everyone had hated her when she had been claimed, because 'Ares wasn't supposed to have daughters' or whatnot. It wasn't fair! She didn't choose her parentage! Why should she be nice to them?

**She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking - as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out - that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

"You're not wrong," said McGonagall.

"We've repaired almost all the cabins and toilets," said Annabeth.

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

"You weren't angry enough," realised Harry.

**"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

Sally stared at Clarisse. It wasn't an angry glare or a look like she was about to cry. It was completely neutral, but Clarisse, for the first time ever, felt like the woman was looking right through her.

**Her friends snickered.**

**Annabeth stood****in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

"I was _not _watching through my fingers!"

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. **

Clarisse was beginning to feel rather guilty with Sally's eyes piercing into her. _You're a daughter of Ares_, she told herself, _act like one. You're not going to let a __mortal __make you feel guilty!_

**I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

**Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

This elicited a laugh from almost every underage occupant of the Great Hall. Clarisse glared at them, but to no avail.

Jason and Leo clapped Percy on the back. The three newest guests smiled slightly, but were slightly wary to laugh aloud.

**I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

The laughing continued, while Clarisse turned red. Whether it was because of anger or embarrassment, no one knew.

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. **

"You're good!" said Tonks excitedly.

Moody nodded his approval. "Powerful, boy. You'd do well in a fight if you controlled your powers."

Sirius winked at him, until Andromeda cuffed him and he turned back. Ted snickered at his friend.

**The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

"They're not much more than that," grunted Bill.

"Shut up," sneered Clarisse. "You know nothing about them."

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. **

"How was that fixed and who fixed it?" asked Ginny.

"Magic," said Annabeth cryptically.

**Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

"I hadn't seen anything like that ever since Thalia created a giant thunderstorm that blasted thirty monsters at once, killing them with a single strike," said Annabeth. "And that had been in Washington, five years before Percy's arrival."

Thalia smiled proudly at the impressed looks.

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

"That must be useful," said Fred.

"It is," agreed Percy.

"Can you get wet at all?" asked Helena.

"I can, but only when I want to."

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you ..."**

**"I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

"The game didn't go quite as planned," she admitted delicately, having had calmed down.

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

"Percy," scolded Sally again. "What Clarisse did was unacceptable, but you cannot abuse your powers."

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"Both," said Annabeth. "But also impressed..."

**"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

**"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"Didn't we all?" asked Travis.

Katie found herself smiling slightly at Travis's tone.

"Well," said Remus. "That's the end."

"One more down," said Ron. "How many left?"

"Plenty," replied Remus. "But I think we should best have lunch now..."


	7. Fallen Embers

At that precise moment, Will Solace appeared, shocking most of the demigods.

"Where have you been?" demanded Sirius, looking at his younger half-brother worriedly. "No one saw you leave; you've missed four chapters."

Will's eyes darted around the Great Hall. "I... met the infamous Hazel Levesque. Daughter of Pluto... She took me to the Underworld," he said in a much quieter voice.

"Wait –," said Annabeth, walking over to her camp friend. "She doesn't even know you. Why would she take you?"

"I went back to camp to pay my respects to Lee and Michael," admitted Will. "She saw me and asked me to go with her. I refused at first, but she convinced me."

"What was she doing in the Underworld?" asked Harry, who had been sitting next to Sirius.

The son of Apollo shifted slightly. "You know how... some campers keep saying that they want the casualties of the Titan War back?"

Sirius placed his head in his hands. "Will – no."

"Yeah..." said Will awkwardly. "Apparently, Hazel somehow got the message from Piper before the readings and wanted to beg her father for a temporary... resurrection of those half-bloods."

"And?" said Annabeth impatiently.

"And nothing," said Will dully. "Hades has gone mad; madder than before, I mean. When the Doors of Death opened, they didn't keep mortals alive like they did us. Zeus's transformations made him angry and irritable; he blasted planes out of the sky like they were nothing. The Fates hadn't meant for those mortals to die... So he said that he could possibly send some people. He's still a bit bitter about Bianca, though..."

Sirius frowned, confusion marring his handsome features. "It's not like Hades at all to do something like that..."

"No," agreed Will. "But he did say that he'd send all or nothing. Meaning we either get Nakamura, Torrington and Luke with everyone else, or no one at all."

"I vote for all," said Annabeth immediately.

"Heroes!" called Sirius.

The demigods immediately turned to look at him. Chiron gave him an odd look.

"Is there something you wish to say, Sirius?"

Sirius quickly explained what Will had said. "Vote now," he said at the end.

"All," said Thalia, Ernie, Annabeth, Seamus, Pollux, Will, Jake, Leo, Clarisse, Blaise and Piper.

"None," voted the rest, apart from Nico and Percy, who said nothing.

"Nico, Percy?" said Chiron, looking at them expectantly.

"I don't know," said Nico. "It may damage Father's realm. It's too risky. I vote none."

Percy bit his lip. "I don't want us to get too attached to them, just to lose them again. I want them here, but it's really risky... I'm sorry, I have to vote no."

Chiron stepped up. "Sirius, Severus, Minerva, what do you have to say about this?"

"I vote yes," said Sirius immediately. "Dangerous it may be, but everyone needs it a little."

"I vote yes as well," said Snape. "I do not believe it will harm the realm, Nico. In fact, it will strengthen it, as numerous mortals have died on the Olympians' account without the Fates' permission."

McGonagall shook her head. "I vote no; it's a foolish move. It will unsettle the balance of the universe. Death is death. Dead people should not return."

"Dean Thomas, Hannah Abbott, Zacharias Smith, Theodore Nott, Luna Lovegood, Nico di Angelo, Perseus Jackson, Jason Grace and Minerva McGonagall have voted against resurrection," said Chiron clearly.

He paused for a moment and then continued.

"Pollux Claret, Seamus Finnigan, Annabeth Chase, Jake Mason, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Clarisse La Rue, Will Solace, Thalia Grace and Blaise Zabini have voted for resurrection. The count is nine to eleven. Anyone who wishes to change or withdraw their position, speak now."

Silence. Chiron nodded at them. "Very well – I shall contact Lord Hades."

Hestia sighed heavily. She had a terrible feeling about this. And if one out of three of Athena's had voted for it...

Chiron trotted out of the room. Trying to avert the attention from him, McGonagall silenced the Hall and clapped twice, making food appear on the tables.

After lunch, the Hogwarts residents decided to begin reading again. Jon summoned his courage and asked Remus if he could read the next chapter. Remus smiled gently at him.

"Of course," he said kindly.

Andromeda stared intently at Jon. There was something about him. He was a demigod, she was certain, along with the rest of his friends, but there was something much more to the boy. Holding back a frustrated groan, she turned to the small boy as he began the seventh chapter.

Chapter Seven: Fallen Embers

"**Chapter Seven: My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke" **

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. **

"Naturally," said Sirius.

A soft smile graced his handsome features as he remembered his days at camp.

**Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. **

"Very flattering," said Ginny, a laugh escaping her.

Percy glared mockingly. The memories of his first day at camp weren't his fondest.

**Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

"I still hate you for that," said Annabeth.

Percy shrugged. "Sorry?"

Annabeth huffed.

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), **

Jake, Leo and Seamus smiled smugly.

"I made Chris's sword," said Jake.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Only because you lost a bet."

"I still did it, didn't I?"

**the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), **

"Pan!" said Grover indignantly.

"Goat-man," muttered Luna. "Really, Percy..."

**and the climbing wall, **

Sirius, Will, Percy and Grover grinned almost maniacally. All the other demigods shuddered.

"I hate that thing," grumbled Hannah.

**which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

Sally's eyes widened comically. "You never mentioned a climbing wall. Percy, you are _never _getting on that monstrosity."

Percy laughed. "Mum – I kill monsters on a daily basis. I've fought in two wars. I've been on six quests. The climbing wall isn't the most dangerous thing I've done."

Sally seemed to age ten years when Percy said that. It just wasn't fair...

Meanwhile, Jon and Evelyn were subtly sending each other looks.

"No!" said Helena. "There is not a single chance that if, by any chance, we find ourselves in that camp, you will climb that... that thing!"

Jon knew better than to disobey her. Evelyn, however, was a different matter.

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

**"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

"Someone's mad," snickered Thalia.

"I was drenched in _toilet water_," Annabeth reminded her.

**"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

"Sure you are," said Leo.

**"Whatever."**

**"It wasn't my fault."**

The demigods snorted disbelievingly.

"Maybe it was, a little," said Percy sheepishly.

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. **

"Oh, you think?" said Ted, not unkindly.

Jon was becoming rather frustrated with the interruptions. He had never been too good at reading, but now he couldn't concentrate at all. The letters kept getting mixed up and couldn't read them.

**I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.**

This drove the demigods into fits of laughter. Even Snape cracked a smile.

**"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

**"Who?"**

"The creepy mummy that lives in the attic," elaborated Theodore.

"I hated that thing," said Will.

**"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

"We do," said Pollux defensively. "You just don't understand anything."

Jason and Thalia snickered.

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. **

"Naiads," clarified Annabeth.

**They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

"Did they know?" asked Harry confusedly.

"Probably," said Percy. "They certainly seemed like they did."

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

"Because waving at a bunch of girls underwater is perfectly natural," said Thalia.

**"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

"Someone's jealous," said Piper innocently.

Annabeth unsheathed her dagger, but Piper couldn't be afraid. Annabeth had been her first friend at camp, the person she had trusted most of all.

**"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. **

"Poor dear," muttered Molly sympathetically.

Sally didn't know how to feel about Molly. The woman was lovely, but Sally thought she was a little overbearing at times. The way she had yelled at her twin sons during lunch...

**"That's it. I want to go home now."**

"Sadly, I suppose it does become home after a while," Jon interrupted himself. "But it's a bit like a prison, isn't it? I mean, you're taken there against your will, told you're safe and you're not allowed to leave unless some divine force wants you to do their dirty work."

A couple of demigods blinked.

"Well, when you put it that way," mumbled Ernie.

Katie shrugged. "Camp's still great."

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

"You make it sound like you're not human," said Paul.

"Only half," said Annabeth drily. "Have you not been listening?"

Paul blinked. "I guess I deserved that," he muttered. "Bad choice of words..."

**"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

Tonks, Ron, Ginny and Harry nearly fell out of their chairs laughing.

"Close enough," said Tonks, winking at S irius, who aimed a stinging hex in her direction."

"I take offence to that," said Blaise.

**"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

**"Half-human and half-what?"**

Thalia hit her head on the table. "Are you stupid, Percy?"

Sally raised an eyebrow, but she didn't comment. Percy could fight his own battles. Speaking out would only embarrass him. Hestia stared at her brother's only daughter. Thalia caught her eye and blushed.

"Well," said Annabeth in a singsong voice.

**"I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. **

"Lighten up a bit," said Ted. "I hear Sirius was a bit more... excited about it."

Snape smirked. "He was... a lot like Mr di Angelo," he said.

Percy, Thalia, Grover and the Stolls held back laughs.

"Nice," snickered Thalia.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

**I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad. **

**"God," I said. "Half-god."**

Hannah, Ernie, Dean and Seamus looked at each other. Simultaneously, they conjured bottles of Muggle confetti and opened them at Percy.

"Congratulations," said Zacharias. "You've got it, Percy!"

Percy spat out a couple of colourful pieces of paper. "Very funny," he said flatly.

Hestia smiled. Funny, indeed, she thought. The children of Olympus had not been broken by the war. Quite the contrary – it had made them stronger.

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

"It sounds weird when you say it like that," said Helena, realising just how real everything they had read was. "Your parents really are Olympian gods."

McGonagall nodded solemnly. Moody stared at her, wondering whose daughter she could be. Because she _was_ a demigod, Moody was positive. Perhaps Narcissus... Even though he wasn't a god, the girl seemed to check her reflection often, adjusting and readjusting her hair and attire.

**"That's ... crazy."**

"That's putting it mildly," said Remus to himself.

**"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories?**

**They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. **

"Yeah, well, they raped most of the mortals they 'fell in love with' anyway," said Tonks. "Europa, Semele, Ganymede, Callisto –,"

Thalia scowled at the mention of Callisto. She could not accept the fact that her father had raped a hunter of her Lady Artemis.

**Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

A cold wind went right through the demigods, making them shiver.

"What was _that_?" cried Connor incredulously.

Everyone turned to look at Thalia and Jason, but they both shrugged. Sirius sent a subtle look toward Harry, who also shook his head.

**"But those are just - " I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth.**

"Less than two thousand, I suppose," said Ron, smiling slightly.

**"But if all the kids here are half-gods - "**

**"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

**"Then who's your dad?"**

Thalia chuckled. "Annie's not going to like that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"What gave you the idea?" asked Annabeth coolly. She was grateful to Percy for everything he had done that winter, but her relationship with her father was still rocky and she'd never forget Helen's hatred for her.

**"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."**

**"He's human."**

"You don't say," said Thalia.

**"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

"Need I repeat all the names of the women Zeus has raped?" asked Tonks sarcastically.

"No need," said the demigods immediately.

**"Who's your mom, then?"**

**"Cabin six."**

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Did you really expect him to know what that was?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I didn't care much. He was annoying."

**"Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

Annabeth and Luna grinned proudly. Andromeda, on the other hand, frowned.

"I thought Athena was a virgin goddess?"

Annabeth winced. "You'll see – it's in here somewhere."

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

"Excuse me?" said Annabeth. "What does that mean?"

"I was confused!" cried Percy. "I didn't mean it as something _bad_..."

**"And my dad?"**

Snape sighed sadly. He missed James and Marlene. What a group they had been... Three children; three elder gods; three different powers and fatal flaws...

**"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

**"Except my mother. She knew."**

Piper sighed. Her father had never known...

**"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

"If they loved their mortal lovers instead of lusting after them, they would tell them," said Luna quietly. "It isn't fair to keep them in the dark when they and their families can be killed at any moment."

**"My dad would have. He loved her."**

A couple of demigods withheld their laughs out of respect for the Jacksons. Gods loving mortals... What a joke.

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble. **

"At least you got that much," said Clarisse.

**"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.**

"And sometimes it doesn't," said Chris bitterly.

**"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

Sally smiled gently at him. How innocent he had been...

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... **

"Stop making excuses for them," said Sirius forcefully, slamming his hand on the table.

Harry, Ron and Tonks, who were closest to him, jumped.

"Sirius – control your emotions," barked Andromeda. Then she unsheathed her wand and spun around to look at Moody. "Say 'constant vigilance' one more time, Alastor Moody, and I swear I'll hex you into the next millennium!"

Neville flinched slightly. No matter what he told himself, Andromeda Tonks was _scary_. All Blacks were. Maybe Sirius was an exception... His wince did not go unnoticed by Andromeda. She would have to keep a careful eye on that boy. He seemed unwell.

**Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

The cold wind blew through the demigods again. This time, Evelyn and Helena shivered as well.

"Who's doing this?" demanded Clarisse.

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. **

Chris momentarily looked down at his calloused hands. Hestia placed her hand over his, trying to reassure the boy. Hermes had rarely left one of his children unclaimed...

**I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. **

Malfoy allowed himself a scowl. He knew his mother loved him, but didn't his father do the same thing as those disgusting Muggles? Did he not shower his son with presents in exchange for polite, respectful silence and a cool, distant relationship?

**But gods should behave better.**

"They should," agreed Will. "But they don't."

**"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

"Unless you die," said Chris sullenly.

**"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. **

Annabeth earned two glares from Katie and Piper.

"Sorry! But come on – Drew and Mitchell really aren't that powerful. And besides Miranda, the Demeter children aren't very intimidating either."

**The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. **

The year-rounders looked at each other and smiled. A demigod's life was hard, but friends like them made it bearable.

**We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble **

Thalia snorted. "I've been fighting monsters since I was eight."

**- about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. **

"That's a happy thought," muttered Ron, looking a bit ill.

**A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. **

"The problem is, though," said Nico, "that there are two types of fame. Amelia Earhart and Joseph Stalin were both children of Zeus..."

**Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

**"So monsters can't get in here?"**

"Not unless –,"

"We know, Annie."

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

**"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

"My thoughts exactly," said Remus and Paul.

**"Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

Sirius smiled slightly. "Even we weren't cruel enough to play such jokes. Though it seems quite popular at camp..."

**"Practical jokes?"**

**"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

"So they use a similar magic to what was used to hide Hogwarts from Muggles," said Remus interestedly.

Harry frowned slightly. "But if you're not one of them, how can you see the camp?"

"Sirius gave me access the moment we approached it, back in our fourth year."

**"So ... you're a year-rounder?"**

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colours. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

"What's that for?" asked Ron tactlessly.

"My father gave it to me," replied Annabeth stiffly.

Ron cringed. He knew he shouldn't have asked.

**"I've been here since I was seven," she said.**

"Why did you go so young?" said Molly softly, an ache consuming her heart for those young half-bloods. Why did everything bad that could possibly occur happen to them?

Annabeth shrugged. "It just happened. I ran away, ran into Thalia and... Well, you get the idea."

**"Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. **

"Sounds promising," said Helena with a chuckle.

A couple of campers smiled grimly. Hestia, Sally, Andromeda and Molly tried not to wince at how bad that sounded. _A bead for surviving another year... _It was truly terrible.

**I've been here longer than most of the counsellors, and they're all in college." **

"Really, Annie, you could at least congratulate them for making it to that age," said Thalia in a mocking tone.

"Don't call me Annie," said Annabeth distractedly.

**"Why did you come so young?"**

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

"So you tell Mrs Weasley, but you don't tell me," grumbled Percy, having remembered the kind witch's name.

Annabeth grinned at him. "Yeah, that's about it."

**"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

Sirius laughed. McGonagall smiled faintly.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, Mr Jackson," she said, trying and failing to keep her voice even.

**"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."**

Thalia, Clarisse, Percy, Grover and Nico raised their eyebrows.

"_That's _not how it works, either," said McGonagall.

"We get it," grumbled Annabeth, blushing.

**"Unless?"**

**"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."**

"My brother was brutally assaulted and scarred by some monster," said Chris.

"While trying to do something _Heracles _had done before him!" finished Connor.

"Where's the honour in that?" cried Travis.

Percy winced, remembering Luke's words at the end of that year.

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.**

"You don't say," mumbled Will.

**"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff - "**

**"Ambrosia."**

**"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"**

A couple of people looked at her funnily.

"Do you _think _he knew something?" said Ted. "He didn't even know who his parent was, much less what was supposed to happen at the solstice..."

Annabeth shrugged. "I was desperate."

**"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

"Now neither of you knows what's going on," said Tonks cheerily. "Good luck getting through that."

**She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. **

"There's nothing a child of Athena hates more than not knowing something," whispered Sirius to Remus and Ted. "Opposed to something more... rational. You know, like monsters and Titans and stuff..."

**Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."**

"Last time had been on the winter solstice," said Clarisse. "A lot can change in five months."

**"You've been to Olympus?"**

**"Some of us year-rounders - Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others - we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

**"But... how did you get there?"**

"We climbed the Empire State Building," said Clarisse sarcastically. "How do you think?"

**"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"**

"Annabeth," said Will gently," Percy wouldn't..."

"I know," said Annabeth. "I was twelve and had never been in the outside world. I was used to saying such things without people looking at me like I belonged in a rubber room."

"Well," began Thalia in a singsong voice.

"Don't go there," said Annabeth threateningly.

**"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

**"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. **

"Surprise, surprise," muttered Snape. "Who would have guessed?"

**A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking.**

"No offense," said Pollux, "but you satyrs really aren't the subtlest of creatures."

"Pollux?" said Grover.

"Hm?"

"Shut up."

**The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. **

Hannah and Zacharias nodded solemnly.

**And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean - Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. **

"Tough luck," said Harry, laughing.

_Poseidon_, thought Jon. _Percy Jackson is a son of Poseidon. Gods exist. Chances are we're they're children. We are so dead. _

Hestia caught his eye and red fires burned in her eyes. _Brace yourself, son of the winds_, she sent her thoughts out to him, nodding subtly.

Jon rubbed his head, feeling a sudden sharp ache. What had _that _been?!

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**

"Percy doesn't know anything," said Nico helpfully.

Percy huffed. "Yes, I do!" he cried indignantly.

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

"There's a first," said Paul, smiling softly.

Sally, too, smiled. It was hard not to. She loved Percy with all her heart and Paul... Paul was a better husband than she could have ever imagined. He was so good and caring and he made her feel safe and loved. Granted, he and Percy sometimes had their rows, but Sally understood it was hard for Percy to have another stepfather after Gabriel.

**"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem ..."**

Andromeda smiled. "Twelve really is a bit young, dear. Even for a trained daughter of Athena," she added the latter sentence to make the young girl feel better.

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.**

"I was," admitted Annabeth distractedly. She was wondering what Chiron was doing. What would happen once Luke came? What if he didn't come at all? She knew the real reason Nico had voted against the demigods' resurrection was because of his bitterness. Bianca had chosen rebirth and he'd never see her again. But Bianca had known what was best. Chances are she hadn't even wanted a new life; she had only done it to keep Nico from wasting away in the Underworld.

That was true love, realised Annabeth.

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles.**

"And suspiciously full pockets," added Theodore.

"You lot are unbelievable," said Seamus. "I stayed there for two weeks and I lost fifty pounds, twenty dollars, a cell phone and my mam's silver keychain."

"Boys!" cried Sally. "You had better given those back!"

Hestia smiled slightly. She loved her family with all their little quirks and faults.

"The keychain, yeah, after we found out it was his mum's," said Travis. "The money... Let's say it went for a good cause." He winked.

Annabeth glared. "Painting the cabins neon colours does not class as a good cause, Stoll!"

**They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my Minotaur horn.**

**The counsellor, Luke, came over. **

"Always," said Luna softly. "You never felt lonely with him."

"Why don't you want him back?" asked Thalia bluntly.

Luna sighed softly. "I fear it's not very safe, Thalia."

**He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.**

"Luke was the one scarred by the monster Heracles had defeated," said Ginny. It wasn't a question.

Blaise nodded slowly.

**"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."**

"That's nice of him," said Luna and Sirius mildly.

Sirius offered the young Ravenclaw a wink and his trademark grin. He was starting to take a liking to Luna Lovegood, even though her father had been a right nutcase.

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

"Nope," said Chris cheerily.

**I said, "Thanks."**

**"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

"It usually is," said Dean.

**"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

"Yeah, well you should," said Sirius bluntly.

**"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

"It really doesn't," confirmed Ernie.

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easy-going guy. **

"I caused that," said Thalia in a moment of clarity.

"Thalia, Castellan had lost lots of friends until –,"

"You don't understand, Mr Moody. Luke and I... We had a closer bond than what my father would have deemed appropriate. Shame, really... But the point is that I swore to him that I'd never leave. He swore it to me. We promised each other that if we had to fall, we'd fall together –,"

"They could charm each other with just a look and a smile," added Annabeth fondly. "And they knew it well. Luke was bitter after Thalia's... yeah. He became distant. He pushed everyone – even me and Grover – away. All he did was train in the arena. He became unbeatable. He... he said he wanted to defeat the gods for what they had done. It was naive of him, of course..."

"The point is," said Thalia firmly, "that I could have stopped this mess. I fell. I left him and everything fell apart. He'd promised me that he'd look after Annie. I'd promised that I'd come back."

"You both kept your promises," said Annabeth softly. "Luke was good to me, Thalia, just as he had been before. He was more distant and colder, but he helped me through the hard times even when he was grieving."

**He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

"He could," said Annabeth and Grover. Thalia was lost deep in her thoughts.

**"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal.**

"He probably did want to gut you for that comment," said Chris.

**"Yeah. Hermes."**

**"The wing-footed messenger guy."**

"The _wing-footed messenger guy_," spat out Moody, emphasising every word. "Jackson, are you listening to yourself?"

Percy held his hands up in surrender. "I was twelve!"

**"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. **

"How come _you _don't have healing powers?" asked Seamus.

Connor shrugged. "Maybe we do. We just never use them."

"Minor ones," supplied Moody, "but we do."

**Travellers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. **

"Luke wasn't the type to pay false compliments. You were a nobody at camp and you both knew it. He wasn't going to treat you differently, but he wouldn't hide it from you. You had to earn your reputation," said Jake.

**He just had a lot on his mind.**

_He always did_, thought Annabeth.

**"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

Grover winced. "Bad move, Percy."

**"Once."**

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.**

"Not in the slightest," Annabeth told Jon, Evelyn, Helena, Tonks, Harry and Ginny, how looked horrified.

**Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people.**

"I can name a few arses," said Seamus.

"Mr Finnigan," said McGonagall sharply. "Do you wish to be removed from the Hall?"

Seamus blushed and shook his head. "Sorry, Professor."

**After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

"Most of us do," said Pollux.

What he meant to say was no secret. It was directed to all the traitors, dead or alive. Chris, Ethan, Luke, Silena, Alabaster...

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him - even if he was a counsellor - should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. **

"Not a chance," said Will.

"Remember when Seamus got to camp?" said Jake, holding back a laugh. "It was about a year after Luke and Annabeth had come. Seamie had been young, eight I think, and Luke had found him... let's say, lovable."

"Wouldn't let me out of his bloody sight," grunted Seamus.

**But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

"Don't we all?" said Sirius, his gaze lingering on Remus, then slowly turning to Tonks, to McGonagall, then to Molly and finally to Moody.

**"What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. **

"It happens," said Chris, shrugging. "I messed up. Lots of demigods have messed up."

**The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. **

"He hates losing his heroes," said Hestia softly. "It kills him every time, but he has to let go. He can't hold on to them forever."

**Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. **

"It's very unlike Chiron to do this," said Sally, frowning.

**He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp."**

"And she's been waiting since she was ten," added Blaise.

**"Somebody special?"**

**"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for.**

"And that time, it really was him," said Annabeth lovingly.

Percy saluted her mockingly. "I'm glad to be of service, madam."

**Now, come on, it's dinnertime."**

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.**

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

"The moon goddess," realised Harry. "Artemis."

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods - and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.**

"Must've been a bit of a shock," said Remus, not unkindly.

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

"There are so many more now," said Will.

"Almost too many," replied Zacharias. "There's always a bunch of little midgets circling me, asking about the war. Bloody prats..."

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. **

Pollux flinched violently. "Castor..." his voice cracked as he called his dead brother's name.

Hestia comforted and soothed him and let him grieve.

**Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her grey eyes and honey-blond hair.**

"Looking for her?" asked Thalia, smirking.

Percy shrugged. "She, Grover and Luke were the only people I knew."

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. **

"And Clarisse," he added distastefully. He winked at the daughter of Ares to show he was joking.

Clarisse glared back at him, but slowly, a smile crept on her features. She nodded back at Percy.

**She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

"Clarisse, dear, would you, by any chance, be interested in meeting my mother?" said Andromeda.

Sirius sighed. "Oh, Andy, don't do that to the poor girl. No one deserves being around your mum during dinnertime."

"Or any other time," said Theodore.

"What?" he demanded at the curious looks. "Don't you people attend Yule balls?"

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

"And may they live long and well," muttered Snape. Sometimes, there was nothing in the world he hated more than the Olympians.

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want - non-alcoholic, of course."**

"Connor and I once tried filling it with whiskey," said Travis proudly.

"What happened?" asked the four youngest Weasleys.

Travis winced. "Chiron wasn't impressed."

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."**

Sally offered him a warm smile.

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.**

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday...**

"Good thing you didn't turn out like Orpheus," Jake said.

Sirius shivered at the thought. Sally tried to pretend she hadn't heard that.

**"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the centre of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

**"Come on," Luke told me.**

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, **

Ron stared at them. "Are you mad?" he demanded.

The demigods smiled.

**the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

"You're kidding," Fred said flatly.

"Nope," said Dean cheerfully.

**"You're kidding."**

"See?" said Fred. "Percy agrees."

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

"Very sincere," Snape said smoothly.

"Had he any reason to be sincere?" Sirius asked.

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

**Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.**

"That's not going to work," Tonks muttered to herself.

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.**

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

"Well, that and ambrosia and nectar," said Annabeth.

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

Sirius deflated a bit. "But why?" he whined. "It's supposed to be us! We're not even leading, are we?" he said.

Annabeth and Clarisse shook their heads. "Back then," said Annabeth, "it was Athena and Ares. Now Hephaestus holds the laurels with Apollo as the enemy, if that makes you feel any better."

Sirius shrugged. "It's alright, I suppose."

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

**"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

"He still does that?" Sirius said. "He used to call me Septimus Brown."

**Chiron murmured something.**

**"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

"Nice director," Evelyn said, laughing slightly.

The demigods grunted. "Rub it in, why don't you?"

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. **

Sirius and Will grinned proudly at each other.

**We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

"That was quick," noticed Harry, blinking.

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

Sally smiled softly. Percy had changed so much... This endless battle between gods and Titans had turned him into a different person.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"That was the end," Jon declared.

"That was uneventful," George said disappointedly.

Fred nodded in agreement. "Maybe something bigger happens in the next chapter."

"Here – I present you with the honour of finding out," said Jon, tossing the book at Fred. No one failed to notice how the book seemed to glide through the air, how it didn't fall with a deafening thud, but with a soft sound.

"Well then," said George, blinking. "Go on."


End file.
